Death is Life
by Jenalin Marie
Summary: 5 years after Bella's transformation, the Cullen's have finally decided to return to high school. Renesmee looks high school age appropriate and joins them. Jacob becomes their history teacher to keep an eye on Ness when Alice's visions start to get hazy, and a trip to Forks running into their old high school gang may lead to some new problems for our favorite vampire family. EPOV.
1. Chapter 1

I thought that I would never let myself fully enjoy for letting my wife join me in immortality. Truth be told, I had wanted it. More than anything. From the moment she whispered my name in her sleep those first few days I had met her, she had captured me. I would never be anywhere without her. I had selfishly wished that she would become what I was, just so I could steal her away from the heavens. I couldn't let her go. I am the most selfish creature that ever walked this earth.

We've recently moved to Enumclaw, Washington. It was only a few hours' drive to forks, but far enough that the locals wouldn't be familiar with the Cullen name. We were close to the Mt. Rainier forest, so the wildlife was in abundance, and we could hunt at our hearts desire.

However, it has been 5 years of blissful marriage with my Bella. I cannot help myself but to relish every second of my being with her. She has made me whole. She has made me a father. I thought these things this morning as the beautiful chaos weaves throughout the house as four frantic female vampires attempted to prepare my daughter for her junior year of high school.

"Nessie! You positively cannot go to your first day of school without a new outfit! Just look at you!" Alice squealed in a fit of hysterics running after her with an armful of scarves and shoes. "You aren't even wearing any accessories! Your ears are bare, and you're wearing converse? What happened to the Gucci heels I bought you last week?"

"Oh Come on Alice," groaned Renesmee. "Mom isn't going to school as your Barbie doll, so why should I? A t-shirt and jeans is totally fine."

"The only reason Bella isn't wearing her fabulous, new Oscar de LaRenta dress is because she threatened to go hunting in it after school. But you're not as fast as me, and if you ruined this new leather jacket I just got you, you'd break my heart! I only have it in your best interests! Think of how much the boys at school will like it!"

"Ugh, fine. Just this one time, and _only_ because it's the first day of school. And no heels! Also, I choose my own wardrobe the rest of the school year, got it? Otherwise I'll take your Porsche on a drive through the bushes!" Renesmee grabbed the beige leather jacket on the couch and a teal scarf from Alice's hands with a smug face. I was immediately immersed in a vision of a yellow Porsche muddied and scratched through the Mt. Rainer forest.

"We'll see Nessie. I don't think your dad would like it if you ruined his present to me…" She skipped away cheerfully over her victory of the latest battle.

That was just like Alice. To reel me into fashion drama to get what she wanted. In all honestly, Renesmee had inherited her mother's lack of fashion interest from her mother. I didn't care what the two loves in my life wore, just as long as they were happy.

"Ness, that scarf is perfect and you look beautiful!" Rosalie's response was genuine. She adored her the way that every other member of my family did, but then again, who didn't love Renesmee? _Maybe she'll fall in love with a gorgeous hipster boy, and forget about the dog down the street._

In the five years that Rose had spent with Jacob, her resentment towards him had not changed. I loved Jacob as a brother, but to think of him putting his hands on my innocent five-year old daughter was another thing. I also wasn't too keen on any 'hipster boy' touching her either. Maybe I ought to put her in an all-girls school.

"Put some of this on before Alice attacks you with her makeup bag." She tossed a vat of lip gloss to Renesmee, and she rolled her eyes while reluctantly put it on. Why did my daughter have to grow up so fast?

"Renesmee! You left your backpack upstairs and you left your window open! The rain is soaking the carpet!" Bella flew down the stairs holding Renesmee's bag, fitting it onto her back.

_Seriously people. I'm not a child anymore, I'm nearly sixteen years old! _Renesmee's thoughts had changed from innocent adoration as a child into a grown woman. She was no longer the baby we thought she was.

"You are five years old Renesmee," I replied. "You're capability to grow faster than other people does not mean that we aren't still your parents."

"Sorry dad," Renesmee hung her head in response. "Aren't you guys getting ready too?"

"I'm ready, and I'm not giving into Alice today. I'm already nervous as it is and I want to be comfortable." Bella reached for my hand in nervousness. This was her first day back in school since she was a mortal. Although her incredible self-control was highly intact, facing the day with hundreds of warm-blooded humans was not any vampire's idea of a good time.

"Don't worry love. We have all the same classes, and I'll be right alongside you if you need any help. Alice didn't foresee any problems, and I know you'll do great!" I squeezed her hand in confirmation and lowered down to kiss her forehead. Electricity sparked my lips into the inner core of my body. Had our daughter not been in our presence, I would have whisked Bella into my arms in a more passionate kiss. Bella had less self-control than I did.

In a split second, my head was in her hands and her mouth was on my own. The fire building inside me was let loose and I could no longer control any desire to stop. I could feel my venom surging through my veins. Her mouth reached over to my ear and her sweet breath exhaled on the side of my cheek. The intoxicating scent took me over the edge and I pinned this angel to the nearest wall. The thin sheet rock cracked in response and our breathing sped. Her wrists were held in my hands as prisoner, yet she made no attempt to escape. One thought surged through my brain. _More_. It was all I could think of. I would never let this beautiful creature escape my grasp. Never in a million years.

"STOP STOP STOP YOU TWO GROSS ME OUT!" Renesmee had been standing there the whole time. It hadn't been more than three seconds since we were having a conversation with our daughter. "Sheesh Dad, can't you get a grip? Just cause I look the same age as you does NOT make it ok to take advantage of mom in front of me. The last thing I want to see is a reenactment on how I was created!"

Bella and I looked at each other, and finally with trembling lips we burst out into laughter. If only she knew how wrong she was! The epitome of Bella's existence as she put it was our time on Isle Esme where our daughter was conceived. But in three seconds, we were able to prove to ourselves on how different our physical level was. The island was one of the best parts of my life, but every time I held my wife, I was so sure that I would break her. Worried that in an instant she would vanish into smoke if I held her too close. Now she was mine forever.

I chuckled before momentarily letting go of my wife's hand. "I'll just go grab our jackets."

In the blink of an eye, I was back down the stairs with jackets in hand. "Okay let's go."

"Wait wait wait wait!" Esme hurried into the entrance, steering the rest of our family near the door. "Humor me kids. I want a picture. Our whole family is together." Ordering ourselves in an organized fashion, we posed for Esme and I couldn't help but think of our family's picture as an ad for a Back to School photoshoot.

Carlisle walked behind her while gently placing his hands on my mother's shoulders as she clicked several pictures. They never ceased to amaze me with their undying love.

"You all look wonderful. Make me proud. And Emmett, don't let me receive any phone calls from school today for any of those pranks you've been planning with Renesmee." Carlisle was the embodiment of a perfect father figure. Anything he said, goes.

"Fine," Emmett replied. _But he didn't say anything about not pulling any pranks tomorrow. _I'd have to tip Carlisle off on Emmett's thoughts of switching the bathroom signs throughout the school.

"Oh this is going to be so great!" Alice chimed in. "We're seriously going to be the best looking group this school has ever seen."

"You're welcome," Rosalie boasted. She had chosen to wear the shortest pair of shorts dress code would allow. Her legs extended a mile in front of her and she headed out towards the garage.

"Oh great, I can't wait for more attention," Bella snorted.

"Welp, this is going to be an interesting day." Renesmee said. Her long, bronze hair hung wavy over her shoulders, her deep-brown eyes danced with excitement, and she flung towards me in a warm embrace. As she gently raised her palm to my cheek, I could not only hear her thoughts, but was taken to a memory from her first year of life. Toddler Renesmee sat on my lap while I read to her. As she yawned before going to sleep she whispered into my ear "_I love you Daddy_."

"I love you too sweetheart. Make me proud today."

She was the most beautiful thing I had ever created. Well, with one exception. Here's to another great day in paradise.

Out in our driveway, my new Volvo glistened in the rain. I couldn't help but remember the last time my original had seen the light of day. Of course I couldn't be mad at her. Just one month ago, I had let Renesmee get behind the wheel of my souped up sedan. She had insisted that since she was basically the age of a sixteen year old, she should be allowed to drive whenever she wanted. In all truthfulness, Nessie was a good driver. However, she was still half human, and her craving for speed not as well in control compared to me. Just two miles down the road from our Forks house, my mangled Volvo had found refuge wound up in a large Spruce. It wasn't until that day that I realized how protective everyone was of my naïve daughter.

Two days later I had begun to fill the remorse for the loss of my car. Its cash value hardly worried me, but Bella and I had so many memories in it. It was the first place I fully endured and tormented myself with her excruciating, wonderful scent. The first time we listened to Clair de Lune was in that car. It was that car that she ran towards every morning in the Fork High parking lot to welcome me with a kiss.


	2. Chapter 2

**So this is my first ever attempt at a fanfic story, so please review it! I'm not 100% sure where this is going yet, but I would appreciate feedback. Thanks!**

Technically, my family and I lived a little out of the accepted zone area for Enumclaw High. However, since Carlisle had taken a position at St. Elizabeth Hospital only 2-miles from the high school, we were able to sweet talk our way into the district.

Arriving at Enumclaw High was bittersweet feeling, especially on my part. I had endured thousands of agonizing hours in mundane high schools. I had once even considered it my own purgatory; that was until my reason for existence finally found her way to me in a very eventful biology classroom. Today was our first day back in high school since Bella's first graduation. Renesmee was ecstatic. In fact the word doesn't serve it justice. Bella and I are only just over a year away from reaching Renesmee's fully matured age. Her growth spurts have finally slowed enough for her to attend a public school without being noticed…at least no more noticed than our family usually does.

Bella squeezed my hand as we proceeded through the school entrance and I looked deeply into her eyes asking permission into her remarkable mind.

_I don't know Edward, do you think it's too early? Maybe we should wait until next year to prepare Renesmee more. Maybe we should have invited Jacob. Maybe we should have put her into more of our classes. What if I can't handle this?_

"Everything is going to be fine," I whispered into her ear. "Renesmee is ready and you know she'll excel more than anyone else in her class. You have more self-control than even I do, and we'll see Renesmee at lunch, so please don't worry."

Bella didn't respond. She kept her shield firmly around her, protecting her from any more uncertain thoughts. I quickly kissed her on the cheek before entering the bustling hallway.

"**Attention please. For those students who weren't able to attend registration last week, please proceed to the administration's office to retrieve your class schedules. Any changes must wait until the end of the day, or during your lunch period. Thank you." **The intercom went silent and we all looked at each other in panic.

"Not to worry everyone," Alice chimed in. "Carlisle said he visited the administration's office the other day on the phone and got everything sorted. They should have our schedules all bundled with our names on it.

The next moment was something I had been preparing myself for. Walking though the crowded hallway as my family passed was always a new experience in every new school. The difference this time was having to listen to the thoughts of so many obnoxious, young minds about my wife and our little girl.

The first mind I heard was a cocky tall jock who was currently eying Rosalie. _Whoa. Hello freaking gorgeous. I can't wait until lunch period to snag up that blonde one for some afternoon delight!_

Emmett growled and took Rosalie's waist as she gave the boy a "you know I'm way too good for you" look.

_Oh my gosh the hair! Look at his face. I have definitely never seen something so beautiful in my life! I wonder if they're related. I hope so, or else I'm screwed. Oh wow, look how pretty they all are. But wow, he's just…wow._

I had never grown accustomed to my looks through my immortality, nor did I feel like I represented the Greek like God that I resembled until I met Bella. She made me feel like the man I hoped I always would be. But this girl had it all wrong. Except for one thing, she didn't stand a chance.

But then the moment I had been gearing up for all week went to crap. Bella walked in front of me holding our young daughters hand. I followed closely behind them with my hands in my pocket anxiously looking from boy to boy. Protecting my girls. Not that they needed any protection. Both of the women in my life could take on any super bowl winning quarterback in a matter of seconds.

_Well I think I just found my number 17 and 18 girlfriends this year. Dang that dark haired one is hot! I dunno, the chick in the leather jacket looks pretty sexy herself. Maybe she'll find herself in my hotel room after this year's homecoming dance. _

The young man by his locker stared lustfully at my two most important beings on this planet. Before I could help myself, I turned head face and snarled at the kid.

_Whoa! _He screamed as he tripped backwards and fell into his locker.

"Edward! It's fine! Just walk away." Bella was at my side in an instant reassuring me of any insecurities. "Let's go pick up our schedules. Please just act like the handsome, confident gentleman you are, okay? I could use the moral support. Also, I love you."

Any worries I previously had were gone with those three little words. She was right. I was supposed to be the expert here. I needed to be there for my family, not acting like the self-conscious seventeen-year old that I was.

Walking through the doorway, a short, petite woman stood behind her desk as a dozen students tried shuffling their way to the front to retrieve their schedules. _Mrs. Delany-Administrations Secretary_ was written on her name plate.

"If…everyone…ehh oh gosh. Everybody! If you could all just, oh woah. Keep line in an orderly fashion…" The poor woman was going to be trampled on!

"Jasper," I whispered quietly. "Do you think you could help the poor woman out?"

"Already on it," he said. And within a moment, everyone started feeling at ease. The mob of students relaxed and quieted down. Mrs. Delany took a few deep breaths and looked around puzzled, searching for whatever had eased the tension.

"Right," She said. "One at a time, please."

After a minute or so, the office emptied out, and all that was left was my family. Mrs. Delany was putting her desk back in order when she said "Yes, can I help you?"

"Hello Mrs. Delany. My name is Edward Cullen." Her head snapped up. "My family and I just moved into town, and my father said he took care of our schedules and paperwork the other day. Could we pick up our welcome packets?"

_My word he's more gorgeous than the doctor. Oh my just look at the whole family! I wonder if…no, they're students Evie, get a hold of yourself. But wow he's pretty._

I smiled, and thought of poor Ms. Cope back at Forks High School. I would miss her this year. "Mrs. Delany? Do you need our individual names?"

"Oh, no Edward. I have a package set aside here for your whole family. Quite the over achievers, your family. You're all in advanced placement! If you ever need any help at all, please don't hesitate to give me a visit."

_Whenever you want. I'll be here._

"Thank you, we'll let you know if there's any trouble."

"Geez Dad, you just about gave that lady a heart attack! Next time go easy on her Mister Suave." Renesmee always gave me a hard time when other women swooned over me, or are "dazzled" by my presence as Bella puts it.

"Well _baby sister," _I joked with her. "Here is your class schedule. You've got English with your mom and I, Spanish with Jasper and Emmett, Earth Science with Rose and Alice. That means you're on your own for History, and your extracurriculars. Oh wait, ha you've got P.E. with your mother and I."

"Are you serious?" Bella chimed in. "With all your charm and good looks, you couldn't talk us out of P.E.?"

"Oh relax Bella. I didn't get to go to P.E. with you last time so it's only fair. Besides, you're not your clumsy self anymore so you can't be embarrassed." The woman has no bounds. One day she's begging to race me through the forest, and the next she's fighting tooth and nail to avoid badminton with a couple of high school kids.

"Fine. But unless they form some vampire team where I can own you at any sport, I'll just stand in the back and avoid the ball."

"Not if I can help it, Love. I'll be passing it to you every chance you get."

"Okay you two, enough with the child's play. In about ten more seconds you'll be pushing Bella into that wall to make out. And I'm not sure that classroom of teenagers is going to overlook you breaking through a solid wall…"

"Time for class guys. Okay Miss Hale," Alice said gesturing to Bella. We decided if we were going to be playing boyfriend-girlfriend, Bella would be related to Jasper and Rosalie, while Renesmee portrayed my little sister. Esme was right. The resemblance between us was just too profound to ignore. "Listen Bella. You're going to do fine. I haven't seen anything for today where you pose a threat to anyone. Stop being antsy or you'll bring more attention to yourself!"

"I'm fine Alice. Really and truly great." Bella's eyes burned a deep gold from our hunting trip last night. We were taking every extra precaution possible, and frankly Jasper was just content that he wasn't perceived as the weakest link any longer.

_Don't freak out Edward, but something is off during third period. It's Nessie's art class. I don't see anything bad happening, but there are seriously huge gaps during that hour. More so than usual with her. _

Alice's vision flooded my mind, but she was right. Lots of blackouts occurred in places they shouldn't. I eyed my little girl talking to Bella just a few feet away, but I made careful precautions to not let either of them notice my private conversation. Bella didn't take too well with my secret chats with Alice.

"We need to get to class, Love. We'll see her second period for English."

"Don't worry boss," Emmett said as he nudged me on the shoulder. Nessie and I have Spanish completely under control. Isn't that right Niña?" He chuckled and Renesmee scoffed in his direction. If there was one thing she was particularly sensitive about, it was being compared to a little girl. One thing she had for sure though. This was definitely going to be an interesting day.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

As we all walked our separate ways, Bella and I arrived at our first classroom. Once again a junior, I would be "re-learning" high school algebra. I would have thought the public school districts could have come up with a more useful math class than this by now. Only in very rare occasions would these children actually going to use matrices and linear equations.

Bella and I took two open seats in the back of the classroom with a minute to spare for the bell. Heads turned in our direction and several boys ogled at my wife. Teenage girls were swooning, and definite chatter about my family arose into conversation.

"Have you seen the new kids yet? They're like supermodels or something! I wonder if those two are an item. Do you think I could get that chick to come to Allison's party with me this weekend? I heard they just moved here. They all live together so they've got to be related right?" A couple of boys two rows ahead of us were chatting about my strangely beautiful family, but more particularly my wife.

Never before in my life have I ever given a second thought to the boring humans whom I shared their unpleasant and unwillingly shared opinions. That was until Bella Swan was welcomed into my life where every boy at Forks High was eager to win her affection. How I became so blessed, I'll never know. But I will never forget the moment when Mike Newton made his best effort to take my wife to the school dance. Although I was fairly certain at the time she shared no reciprocated feelings towards him, my stomach churned at the thought that she would choose someone else over me. More than a century of life lived, and this strange human girl had surfaced the jealousy within me in a single moment.

Seven years later, here I am again as a junior in high school, joined by my wife, and miraculously so, my daughter. However, to make a clear statement, I reached for Bella's hand and tenderly kissed her pearly white smooth skin. She hadn't blushed in five years, but I saw past her burning eyes and imagined her flushed cheeks reacting to my intimate gesture. I would love this woman till the end of time. One of the boys turned his head quickly around whispering 'damn it', and I couldn't resist curving my mouth into the slightest grin. She was _mine. _

_Was that an act of romantic spontinaety, or are you jealous of the little boys drooling in my __direction?_ Bella smirked at me quickly while squeezing my hand one last time before pulling away.

I held back a chuckle, quickly looked at the dark-haired goddess that stared back at me, I let out a huff, and smiled back to her. I opened my book bag as quickly as possible, lifted out my notebook and started scribbling on paper. From what I could tell, Mr. Weston, our algebra teacher was heading into the classroom with seconds to spare before the bell rang.

"Alright everyone, please take your seats. Many of you have taken a class from me before, but for those of you who are new students, welcome. My name is Mr. Weston and I'll be teaching you algebra this year."

I discretely passed my small note to her, waiting for her reaction. She opened it quietly under her desk.

_I can't help it love. You're the most exquisite creature these poor humans have ever laid eyes on. I have to hear their thoughts. Forgive me for claiming you for myself. If you would rather explore your options with the young, naive boys at the front, I completely understand. _

Bella's golden eyes squinted and her mouth formed a straight line across her face, clearly holding back a giggle. A few seconds later, Bella coughed and nudged her pencil onto the floor, dropping her reply along with it. I swiftly bent over to pick up my response.

Thank you for permission my love. I was ever so hoping that I might get a chance to be swooned by the blonde young man up front.

I clasped my hands over my heart and gasped sarcastically towards Bella after reading her note. It took two seconds to write a reply.

_Why Miss Swan, I was under the impression that it was me who dazzled you!_

"And I don't permit note passing in my class. Is there something you'd like to share with the rest of us Mister…?" Mr. Weston had just cut off the middle of his syllabus speech when he witnessed my exchange with Bella.

Damn. After graduating high school nearly forty times, I had never been caught passing notes. "Cullen," I replied. "Edward Cullen. I apologize Mr. Weston. I promise not to be any more trouble."

"Indeed you wont Mr. Cullen. Anymore note exchanging and I'll be forced to assign seats to the whole class for the remainder of the year."

_Pfft. Edward, what stupid name. 'Yes Mister Weston, it'll never happen again Mister Weston.' What a suck up. That girl needs a man who can stand his ground, not cower to our middle-aged math teacher. I wouldn't mind Mr. Weston assigning seats, then I'd have a shot at sitting next to the most sexy girl in this school._

Okay, now the blonde kid was starting to piss me off. One deep breath later, I blocked his thoughts and began to concentrate towards the teacher I had irritated not even five minutes into our first lesson. I glanced over to my beautiful wife where a look of great concentration consumed her soft features. Listening intently in, I patiently waited for her shield to open and her lovely thoughts to flood my mind. Only her thoughts could take my concentration off the irritating boy who planned to steal my wife.

_I'm sorry love. I didn't mean to get you in trouble. And you are right, only you can dazzle me. Anyone else is making a pointless effort. I love you beyond reason. How about I make it up to you tonight if you'd like. I can be the teacher, and you can be the naughty student. I can think of a few punishments that I can subject you to later._

Oh dear god please let this class be over. I tightened my eyes shut and without thinking, let out a small moan. Bella constrained a giggle, but I couldn't help but notice the corners of her mouth tighten from refraining to smile.

The remaining of the class period dragged out to the longest extent I'd ever endured. Energy was pulsing through my veins as I concentrated not on the teacher, but controlling my body and mind to refrain myself from whisking away the woman beside me. It was Forks junior year all over again, yet this time I was refraining from sexual tension opposed to Bella's intoxicating scent.

After what seemed like an eternity, the bell excused us into our next class.

"Well that was interesting," Bella chuckled. "I thought you were nearly going to keel over from trying to contain yourself."

"Well Mrs. Cullen," I whispered so gently no one else could hear. "If a certain young woman kept her visually intoxicating, incredibly explicit ideas of fun to herself, I may have actually learned something today."

"Oh but you know that's not true. You could teach that class better than Mr. Weston could." She replied.

"Okay true, but my concentration was so far gone, I couldn't even wrap my mind around his thoughts when I tried. If he were to ask me the answer to one of his questions this morning, I hardly believe I could have given him a correct response."

"Ha, okay okay. If you'd like I'll shield my thoughts for the remainder of the day. Come on, let's go meet Ness for English."

I started to hear Nessie's thoughts down the hall. Only then was I able to clear my head enough to concentrate on our task at hand. We were here for my daughter. To give her a taste of the human world (pun not intended), and to feel like a normal girl.

_Dad! This is absolutely phenomenal. The kids in my class are amazingly friendly, and I think I may be my teachers new favorite student. _

I focused on Renesmee's vision of her first high school class where she responded to every question with flawless Spanish. Emmett smacked her around a little bit for raising her hand too frequently, calling her a suck up and not to raise too much attention. She had learned the language at a very young age. Bella and Renesmee had spent the first two years after her transformation learning various languages. Following Spanish they had also learned French, Italian, and Portuguese by the time she was only two-years old.

I wanted more than anything just to whisk her into my arms for a proud father daughter moment. To kiss her on her head and tell her how proud I was of her. She was my little angel. Our little miracle baby. But she was no baby anymore... Reminding myself that she was my little sister at school, I gave her a smile and light pat on the back, then started escorting my wife and child to our English class.

"So how was algebra? Learn anything new smarty pants?" Renesmee often mocked me for my knowledge. Seeing as I had several decades to take my fill in books, languages, and philosophy, I was often portrayed as the know-it-all in the family.

"Actually he was caught passing notes in class, and is now number one on our teacher's radar for trouble." I had a feeling Bella would be mocking me for the rest of the day and silently prayed she would keep this misfortune to herself, and not tell my brothers. I could almost hear Emmett's mocking jokes from me unable to successfully pass a note without getting caught. However, if the incident had been the only way to bring out Bella's vision of bad teacher/naughty student roll playing, I wouldn't have traded that moment for the world.

"Oh really? I thought you were supposed to be the all-knowing perfect student." Nessie nudged my arm in a joking manner. "You better shape up Daddy. You wouldn't have to have Grandpa come in for a teacher conference for misbehavior."

I almost laughed at the thought. If Carlisle ever received a phone call from school, it was for Emmett's obnoxious behavior. I had never been called out in class.

"Alright you two, enough with the stupid note. Let's just get to class."


	4. Chapter 4

**Thank you to all who are following and to all of those who have reviewed! Please leave more reviews and I'll try and update again as quickly as possible!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 4<strong>

English class was definitely less eventful than algebra class. Bella's mind read silent and Nessie intently listened to every word from the teacher Mrs. Daniels. She was by far the most model student this school district had ever seen, and everyone already seemed taken with her. How could you not be? My daughter was a beautiful, intelligent, charming and more than friendly with people. Every time her hand shot through the air, I couldn't help but beam at her enthusiasm. I know Bella was thinking the same thing because the smug smile on her face gave her completely away. I may not be able to read her thoughts, but I could read her face like a book.

A small nudge in the back of my mind kept pulling me down into an uneasy qualm. Alice's vision irritated into my sub consciousness where my thoughts drifted outside of the classroom chatter.

_Edward. _Bella spoke through her thoughts. I could pick out her voice through a death metal concert if I needed to. _Edward she's asking you a question. Answer the teacher!_

Pulled back into reality, I looked around to realize the entire class staring at me awaiting a response.

"Well Mr. Cullen?" Mrs. Daniels asked again.

_What a shame. All looks and no brains. I guess you can't be blessed with everything. Such a pretty face though, what a beautiful family. Just tell me boy! What is your favorite book you read in your sophomore years English class? I bet he never finished a book… _

"Oh," I replied. "I'm sorry Mrs. Daniels. I was racking my brain for a sufficient answer. Although it wasn't part of an assignment, I would have to go with Wuthering Heights." Bella rolled her eyes at me then smiled at my little inside joke. "This is a book that speaks to the death of romantic notions; even the relatively happy ending doesn't seem to come from a grand love or fiery romance, but from quiet acceptance."

_Oh my goodness Sylvia, get a grip on yourself. He's just a child! …A child who loves the classics and is familiar with romance. Deep breaths old girl, you're too old to be crushing on a teenage boy!_

"I'd have to agree with you Mr. Cullen." Mrs. Daniels stuttered. "Wuthering Heights is a classic that draws out the deepest and darkest forms of love that even lead to destruction. While it isn't on our syllabus for this school year, I highly recommend you other students to give it a try."

_Wuthering Heights? You hate that book. _Bella snorted through her thoughts. I recalled her own copy sitting ragged on our bedside table at home. Even with a precise vampire mind that recalled everything with perfect clarity, Bella felt the need to work the book to dust. I was sure pages were missing by now.

By the end of the period, I gathered my books and headed Bella and Nessie to the lunch room to meet up with the rest of my family.

"So how's your first day?" Alice animatedly ran to Nessie in an exasperated tone. I want to hear every detail. "Come on, let's head over to the lunch line before it gets too long."

And within seconds, both Ness and Alice were chatting away, comparing stories of their 'first' day of high school, and Bella joined me at the table.

"Something is bothering you," she said. "You've been distracted all day, so you better tell me what it is or you can definitely forget about teacher student tonight."

Huffing out a breath, I decided I couldn't keep this from her. Especially since it involved our daughter on her first day of school with a bunch of warm-blooded humans that she could essentially snack on whenever she wanted.

"Alice had a vision." I replied. I waited for some kind of snide remark on hiding things from her, but instead she continued to look intently at me with open eyes.

"It was of Nessie's third period, right after lunch? The vision had a lot of missing holes in it. It was like she was trying to look around her, but there were still blank spots all over the place. She couldn't get a hold on what was going on. I don't know if I should be more worried about Alice having holes in her visions, or something going wrong in the classroom to be worried about Ness." Thinking about such a trivial little thing made me more anxious. "Do you think I'm just being an overprotective parent?"

"No of course not Edward. Anything out of the ordinary with us has got to raise suspicion. Do any of the others know about it?" Bella collected her calm quite professionally, although I could spot the uneasiness in her voice. If I thought I was overprotective, I was talking to Mama Bear right here…

"I wouldn't be surprised if Alice told Jasper, but as far as Emmett and Rosalie are concerned, I'm fairly sure they're still in the dark."

"Maybe we should go talk to Mrs. Delany in the administration's office to have her art class switched into our Biology class? Better to be safe than sorry, right?" And Bella was right. When anything involved Renesmee, every aspect of every situation was taken into account.

"But where do we draw the line on being over-protective Bella? We need to trust her at some point!"

"And look where that got you a month ago," Bella raised her whisper into a menacing snarl. "Renesmee had to pull herself free from your crushed aluminum can of a car! I love you Edward, and I trust you and Renesmee, but some things from our past can't be avoided, and it's better to be safe than sorry."

"What are you two whispering about?" Emmett bellowed in his most obnoxious, attention hogging voice. "Are you surviving your first day okay Bella, or are your classes going to kill you?" He keeled over at his pathetic joke and sat down next to Bella almost brought to tears by laugher. Other students looked over at the table of unusual new students and murmurs once again started spreading about our curious beautiful family.

Mine and Bella's conversation was cut short when the remainder of the family joined in at the table.

_Come on Edward, let's go to the admin office. We still have twenty minutes to sort out schedules. _Bella was in a frantic mood now, and her nervous fidgeting left Alice's napkin into hundreds of little pieces scattered on her lap.

What I did next I vowed never to do again. But I looked straight into her beautiful golden eyes and shook my head in the smallest manner possible. I knew she wouldn't argue at me, but her worried eyes shot daggers in my direction and I knew at once I had lost my chances at naughty teacher tonight.

Another word wasn't exchanged at all during lunchtime, but Renesmee made sure to pitch into conversation how I had fumbled with passing notes earlier this morning.

"Are you serious Edward?" Emmett mocked annoyingly. "Wasn't that supposed to be something you master in 7th grade…your first time around?"

I shrugged it off which made his tirade of mockery pretty boring, so he moved onto the next subject which included the awkward students around our new school.

Lunch whizzed by too quickly for my liking, and before I knew it, the bell was ringing, and we were heading off to our second to last class of the day. The dreaded third period that was awaiting Nessie…

As I stood up to retrieve my bag and wait for Bella, I was made fully aware that I would be given the silent treatment for the rest of the day. She slung her bag over her shoulder and walked past me with no eye contact. So with a deep breath, I trudged on behind my furious wife.

_Don't worry Edward. I can see Ness fine her fourth period. Whatever is being blocked in her next class isn't going to cause her any harm. She'll be fine. _

I discreetly nodded as I normally do during mine and Alice's private conversations.

Bella and I had Biology next. This was something I had actually been looking forward too. Sort of a romantic reenactment of the day we first met. But here I was, sitting in class with the most gorgeous woman in the universe who was glaring at me with every chance she got, livid at my choice to make a decision without her.

For the remainder of the class, I focused in on Alice's thoughts intently. She knew I would be checking in on Nessie every chance I got, but the visions I received where nothing of use to me. In fact, they had become even more troublesome and confusing! Once Renesmee had entered the classroom, Alice was given not just one, but two blind spots. Or rather the blind spot had grown into one massive blob she couldn't see through.

The bell rang once again dismissing us from class, and I jolted out of my seat leaving Bella behind. Running perhaps just a little too fast for human speeds, I met Renesmee out of her art class.

"Nessie!" I gave her the biggest hug I could muster, and although most students would have been revolted by such an act of affection from their parents in public, but I didn't care. To everyone else I was just a seventeen year old boy hugging his sister, and the hug gave me more comfort than Renesmee would ever know.

"Umm, okay Edward…" Renesmee replied looking around cautiously to see if anyone had taken my public display of affection a little too unusual. After her inspection was complete she proceeded to ask me questions.

"Is everything okay?" she whispered.

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that." I tried thinking of a good excuse to not make her worry. "It just your first day of school, and I suppose I'm having a hard time coping with it."

She let out a small giggle and nudged me on the shoulder. "I'm fine, really. I'll tell you all about it when we get home. I gotta run to my next class. I have math next. See you in an hour and a half." She gave me another quick hug and I felt this huge sigh of relief. So I walked slowly to psychology where Bella stood outside the door; arms folded, tight lipped, and ready to attack.


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry it's taken me so long to update! I've been super busy with work and meetings, plus I decided it would be smart to try and outline where this story was headed. I think I've come up with something good! I'm trying to stick to canon, so if any of the characters seem off base or any of the storyline doesn't match up, let me know! As always, reviews are always appreciated! Thanks for reading!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 5<strong>

I approached her without hesitation, completely setting aside the daggers she shot in my direction. "Bella, I'm sorry. I knew everything would be alright if we let her go to class. Do you think I would have let her go otherwise?" I looked at her in the most adoring way I could think of possible, hoping that I could still dazzle her in this moment of discomfort. Her shoulders relaxed and she all but collapsed in my arms, fighting the sobs that were bound to come.

"Edward I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't be angry with you. I know you would never put her in danger, I've just been overprotective and worried!" I stroked the back of her long mahogany locks trying to comfort her. The thoughts of our future classmates entering our classroom was something I was desperately trying to ignore.

_Oh look at the hot bronze haired boy. I wonder if he broke up with her. I mean, he doesn't look nearly as upset as she does. _

The hopeful blonde girl tried discretely staring at us, and I couldn't help myself but squash any hopes that she thought she would have with me, so I lifted Bella's chin so I could stare deeply into her golden eyes. They were just as deep, just as pure as the chocolate brown gaze she once wore as a human. Then I leaned in for a tender kiss. The electricity between us warmed me to the core, and it began to build. Apparently Bella had completely forgotten that we were standing in a hallway filled with children by increasing her force on her hold.

"_Edward get a grip! If you let her lose, she'll break through the wall!" _Alice's vision caught me off guard enough for me to break off our heavy public display of affection.

"Oops," Bella said smiling. And that was all it took for me to breathe out a sign of relief and to escort her into our next class.

"Everything is okay love. We'll ask Nessie all about her first day after school." I carried in a smug looking face, Bella's hand in mine, praising my amazing wife. I couldn't help but give a small smile to the blonde haired girl who held ill-will towards her, knowing she would never have a chance with me.

_Ugh, so much for that plan. _She thought. The Cullen's are all evened up now. There would be no hope for an unsuspecting human to capture any of our hearts. Perhaps I should give Tanya a call to see if she would like to join us. Maybe she could find an innocent human boy to change her heart.

Bella and I took our seats, and patiently waited for the end of the day. Psychology wasn't nearly as interesting as it had been my first time as a vampire. I can remember the first time I was able to return to school as an immortal. The subjects themselves were mundane, but my ability to retain so much information was exhilarating! I hung onto every phrase, perplexed at my ability to recount everything word for word, and maintained a 100% in all of my courses. I was enjoying my first day back at school just watching Bella go through it. I couldn't help but wish there was a course for vampire psychology as I wondered aimlessly what could possibly be going through her head.

After another hour and a half of lectures, the bell rang dismissing us from our final class. Students jostled around to their lockers, some frantic to catch their bus, and others gossiping about their first day. Bella and I walked out the school doors, hand in hand to the meet the rest of our family in the parking lot.

"Nessie!" Alice yelled. Renesmee had just appeared from the door around the corner. She was distracted; looking down at her phone texting incessantly. Probably texting Jacob…I disliked any idea of the dog growing a sense of romantic interests towards my daughter (the brotherly love had died out a year ago), but I couldn't help but wish he was here with us today, guarding her every move. At the sight of our family, Renesmee put her phone away and ran towards her eccentric aunt, embracing her in a hug.

"Hey what about me?" Bella complained holding her arms out.

"Sorry Mom," Nessie muttered quietly. She approached Bella in a lovingly matter, hugging her tightly and whispered "I missed you."

"I missed you too sweetheart. Let's get in the car and talk about your day on the way home. I'm sure Esme is practically dying with anticipation to see how your first day went."

"Nice choice of words little sis" chuckled Emmett.

"Oh shut up Em, you know what I mean."

"We'll see you three at home. Race you there!" Rosalie screamed running to her car. Her bright red m3 had undergone several more modifications in the past few years, now looking even flashier than before. She had been much more at ease with herself when Renesmee entered our lives. Although she would never be able to give birth to a child of her own, Renesmee was far too good of a niece for her to wallow over it for the rest of her existence. She was finally happy.

Conversation didn't start until we were out of the parking lot and onto the road. We had to make a somewhat normal exit and Bella was simply restless. As soon as we were down the street a ways, Bella had unbuckled her seatbelt and was sitting in the back seat a second later with Renesmee.

"What happened during third period?" She asked frantically.

"What?" Renesmee answered looking slightly puzzled.

"Your art class right? I know you were excited about it…did anything exciting happen?" Bella was practically on the edge of her seat, wondering if her daughter could give her any reassurances about the worry we had both felt throughout our day. Any chance of acting natural had been completely thrown out the window.

"Actually I was going to talk to you guys about that…" Renesmee replied. "Something felt kind of off in my art class. Well, not so much felt as it smelled off. Not quite vampire, but not quite human. The scent was completely different from mine and it was causing me to get flustered every few minutes. All my classmates seemed nice enough. No one seemed suspicious, and my teacher is incredible. You should see some of the stuff she's done!" Bella could see the subject was being led off track so stepped in to steer the conversation.

"Well what about the scent? You couldn't tell where it was coming from? What did it smell like? Did it make you thirsty? Were you scared?"

"Jeez Mom, settle! The scent was everywhere! I couldn't get a grip on any particular place it was coming from. Like I said before, it was overwhelming. It was a pleasant smell, and whatever it is had a heartbeat. It didn't make me thirsty though. Kind of like when you smell a delicious candle, but it doesn't exactly make you hungry."

"Candles don't exactly smell good to me," I joked.

"Okay bad analogy, but you get what I mean.

"Maybe you should call Jake to meet us at the house in about an hour or so, then we can discuss the whole situation as a family." As much resentment I held towards Jake for wanting to date my daughter, I had missed him. Maybe I even missed him almost as much as Bella. He was at our home almost every night, but the past few nights had been so hectic moving in, and trying to sort out our school situation that we had hardly had time to see him. Jake was currently taking online classes from the Green River Community College while he managed his own auto shop. He was hoping to have his Associates Degree so he could take more respectable courses with Renesmee when she was ready for college. Her intelligence had no bounds, and was easily smarter than all of the teachers at the high school.

"I already texted him," Renesmee said. "He's waiting at the house right now actually."

We spent the rest of the drive answering Nessie's questions about our day. I could tell she was trying to stall from our previous conversation to keep her thoughts too busy for me to read. I wasn't bothered though, I preferred she tell us all in detail when we got back to the house. I was not going to be an overbearing, overprotective parent ruining her first day of school. For now, I just wanted to relish this moment, enjoying the short time we had to spent as our own little family.

We arrived at the house in too short of time with the whole family welcoming us there. Jacob was in the driveway, anxiously waiting for Ness to step out of the car to bombard her with a great bear hug.

"Uff, Jake!" Renesmee cried in a muffled voice. "Not that you're hurting me or anything, but it is kind of hard to breath with you cutting off my air supply."

"Oh, sorry! I just missed you so much today." Jake replied, heart beating much more frantic than usual. He had used the word twitter pated with me several times, and I couldn't help but feel happy for him. He had never had a single inappropriate thought about my daughter. It was complete utter adoration. He loved her in the deepest way, and I wouldn't want anyone else to feel anything different for my little girl. It went against every grain in my body to allow a werewolf to be so close to my half human daughter, but I knew she was in good hands.

"I missed you too Jakey. Come on inside, I guess I have some explaining to do for the whole family."

"Huh? Did something bad happen today?" He asked me, the worry in his voice unmasked.

"Just head on inside, and we'll explain everything." I said.

"Welcome home everyone!" Esme cried. "I've been waiting all day to hear about your first day, but apparently there's a slightly more interesting story. Everyone is waiting in the living room."

Esme ushered the rest of us in where we took our seats. Bella and I sat on a small loveseat, and Renesmee stood next to the overstuffed chair where Jacob sat.

"Alright, so I think we've all been informed that something fishy went on for me today." Renesmee said. "But before any of you interrupt, raise voices or concerns; please hear me out until I finish my story."


	6. Chapter 6

**Wow I'm on a roll! There have been a lot of readers, but not nearly enough reviews! Help me out people, is this doing good? I'm eager to see how this story pans out, as it seems to be unraveling itself. Thanks to all my readers! Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 6<strong>

Jacob pulled Nessie closer to him so she could sit on his knee as she began to tell her story.

"I'm not going to start boring you all with the details of the beginning of my day, so I'll skip right to lunchtime when I was informed about what was going to happen in class."

"Alice! You told her?" Bella exclaimed.

"Shh! No interrupting!" Alice responded.

"Anyways," Renesmee continued rolling her eyes. "Mom, Dad, and I all got to the lunch room when Alice and I decided to go stand in the lunch line together. After we got our food, she took me aside before returning to the table to tell me what to expect for my next class. She told me she was keeping an eye on everyone, just as a precaution like normal. I guess after we got to school this morning and had our schedule's handed to us, she started looking through my day. But when she reached my third hour, Alice couldn't see hardly anything going on at all. You know how I'm sort of a blind spot to her, but she can see around me? Well she was trying to get a view of the other students in class, but they kept disappearing as well; all randomly, and all at different times."

"You mean you were having more holes in your visions?" Emmett asked.

"Yes, I'll explain in a bit, let Ness finish her story." Alice was becoming agitated with the interruptions.

"So seeing as I found all this out just minutes before the class, I was freaking out a little, wondering if I was going to snap and get thirsty in class. I mean, it would have made sense for the blind spots if I got thirsty enough to snap at other students because I would be close to them, but Alice had confirmed with me that everyone was healthy and well at the end of the day. My assumptions led me to believe that there was someone else in the classroom that had some relevance to the supernatural.

When I got to class, I planned on sitting in the back so I could get a view of all the students, but the desks were arranged in a semi-circle, so that didn't really work to my advantage. But as soon as I walked into the room, something smelt off. There was definitely a non-human in the room. Not quite vampire, not quite human, but the scent was too different from mine to be recognized as a hybrid. I was at a total loss! I sat there thinking I could track down the scent, but it had completely saturated the entire room. The smell wasn't any more permeated in one place or the other; it was as if the room was doused in the scent and marinated in it overnight. It was definitely a fresh trail though. The owner of the scent was positively in the room.

Anyways, Ms. Alvarez stood in the center and gave us an assignment to introduce ourselves to the whole class. Believe me when I say I was cataloguing every move by every person. I remember every name and face. We were asked to sketch and draw something that best represented our favorite part of our summer. After being given 45-minutes to draw, students were asked to come and stand in the center of the room to show their drawing. It was an AP art class, so pretty much all of the students were very talented. I chose to draw the coral reef from the side of the beach house on Isle Esme. The colors are so vivid and it the island means so much more to me than just a summer vacation."

Bella and I had taken a trip to the island this summer to celebrate our five year anniversary. We wanted to share it with our daughter so we brought her along, and even reluctantly Jacob as well. I have had five years to get used to the idea that he was a part of the family now. I didn't have to like it every step of the way, but Jacob was like a brother to me, and even if I occasionally wanted to snap is neck when his thoughts lingered on my daughter for too long, I was forever indebted to him.

Renesmee continued during my moment of reverie, "Ms. Alvarez seemed particularly interested in my drawing because she's from Brazil herself and asked lots of questions where this island was. I didn't give her the name of the island, I just told her it was some resort located in Rio. I was at least hoping that once I stood up, someone would give themselves away by acting a little too suspicious, but I got nothing. Apart from the occasional drooling boy wanting my attention, the class was simply ordinary. I definitely felt uneasy there; like someone was secretly watching me, but I couldn't get a bearing on who or what it was.

I think that if I was in any danger however, I would have been approached today. Or maybe it's a complete fluke that another supernatural creature is in the same high school as us? Anyways, that's all I got. Once class was dismissed, Dad practically steamrolled me into the wall hugging me to death. I played it cool, acting like I didn't know anything, but come to think of it, I wasn't really blocking my thoughts.

Actually, how is it Dad? That you had absolutely no idea what was happening in my class? I thought for sure you would be in my head the whole day! Especially if you thought I was in danger."

All eyes turned to me and for the first time, I drew a blank. Why on earth hadn't I listened into Renesmee's thoughts? "I don't know," I stuttered. "I was so frustrated with the whole situation that I kept trying to see what was going on in Alice's head. The holes in her vision were so distracting, and I kept trying to see if we would get a glance at whatever was hiding behind them.

"Okay everyone, it doesn't matter what we did or didn't do at this point. What we need to figure out is where we're going to go from here. Do you think it's the Volturi? I mean, we haven't heard a peep from them since that day in the clearing." Alice said.

"It's possible," Carlisle replied. "I mean they know enough from Edward's memories that you definitely have blind spots. They know Victoria was able to work around your visions. There are definite flaws in your foresight Alice, and I wouldn't be surprised if they were behind it. "

Bella gasped a small intake of air and looked at me with worry. "Edward, after only five years, do you think they'd come after us again?"

"No it couldn't be the Volturi," I answered. "All of their thoughts are so common to me, and I am also able to pick up the mind of other vampire's much more easily than humans. Anything that vivid and alien would definitely have been picked up by my radar."

Alice started answering more questions. "Actually I've been keeping a very close eye on the Volturi. Absolutely nothing has changed. The entire guard is in Italy, along with Marcus, Caius, and Aro. No new members have been recruited, and no humans on their charade have been able to make the cut as an immortal. They always die in the process because Aro decides he's too thirsty. As far as I've been able to see, they're completely content the way their lives are already. I'd say it's a no for the Volturi."

"You haven't seen any other nomads in the area either?" Esme asked, her face masked with worry.

"Guys did you not listen to anything I said? I think I can tell a difference between a human and a vampire, and this was most definitely not vampire. It was somewhat similar, but different enough for me to know they weren't one." I could already tell the frustration building in Renesmee's voice. She didn't particularly like family meetings, especially when she could be spending alone time with Jake.

Jake patted her back consoling her over her ordeal. "I think I should accompany you to school from now on," he said. "There's no way I'm letting you step another foot into that building without my protection."

"Jake that's hardly necessary," I said. "You look like a twenty-five year old man, so there's no way you could pass as a student. All of the teaching positions are filled, so you couldn't take one of those, and most of the family is in the school if she needs any more protection. I think the easiest precaution we can take is have her schedule switched to match mine and Bella's."

"Absolutely not!" Renesmee exclaimed. "This is my first year in high school, and I'm practically an adult! I love you both dearly, but I don't want to spend my first year as a student being babysat by my parents. I mean no offense Dad, but you can blow things out of proportion on occasion. I am completely capable of handling myself. If you and Alice want to keep an eye on me that's fine, but I enjoy my classes, and I'm sticking to my schedule."

"Edward," Carlisle chimed in. "I don't think we'll ever find out the root of the problem if we just continue to avoid it. That puts us more in danger because if we are someone's target, they'll have the upper hand knowing we have no idea who they are. I think the best thing we can do right now, is continue for you to go to school as normal, with all of your regular schedules. Keep an eye on Renesmee as a precaution, and don't cause a scene. We hardly need to give the Volturi a reason to turn up because you slaughtered a room of children just to protect your daughter."

I felt my fists tighten. And that's exactly what I'd do if someone even decided to lay a finger on her.

"Edward,' Bella sang. "Edward, just keep calm. I know this is hard, and I want to apologize again for being so irrational earlier today. You kept a level head, and I was the over protective one. But Carlisle is right. We need to trust Renesmee that she'd tell us anything if she thought it was suspicious. Let's give her space and let her at least try to enjoy her first year at school."

"Thanks Mom. And I do promise to tell you guys anything that happens, but we don't even have to worry about that tomorrow. We have four completely different classes, so Art won't come along again until Wednesday."

"I still think I should go with you," Jacob said. "I can't bear to let you go to school when you might be in danger."

"I actually might take you up on that offer Jake," I replied. "I'm sure we could find somewhere you could work at the district. In fact, how about we go set that up right now?"

"Awesome." He said standing up to leave.

"Great, more attention," replied Renesmee.

Bella gently squeezed my hand, and I could tell she was still worried about our daughter so I lifted her hand gently to my lips to kiss. A smile flickered at the corner of her mouth and I could tell was she was thinking. "Soon," I whispered. Then she unwillingly picked herself up and walked downstairs to our room.

"Welp! That's the best first day of school I've ever had. You must be Bella's daughter Ness, only you two could rile up so much excitement in a classroom in one day!" Emmett busted up laughing.

"Come on Em, let's go upstairs." Rosalie took her husband's hand and led him up the stairs.

"Jazz and I are going to hunt," Alice said. I knew perfectly well that neither of them were hungry, but they had encountered an old railroad car a few miles back and thought it was a perfect place for privacy.

"I'm tired, I have a few homework assignments, and then I'm going to bed." Renesmee yawned and picked up her book bag heading for the basement to follow Bella.

"I'll come down to say goodnight before I leave. I'm going to look over some work possibilities with your Dad for a few minutes and then I'll come downstairs." Jacob kissed the top of her head. It was so innocent and sweet that I didn't even think to be mad at him at first. One thing was for sure, he loved my daughter, and that much she deserved. The hard part was hearing her thoughts knowing her feelings towards him were changing as well; stronger, and more intimate.

"I may as well offer some help. If we can somehow smuggle him into a teaching position, I can forge my own signatures from the teaching positions I held at Harvard twenty years ago." Carlisle chucked. He had had his share of teaching experiences several times over, and with his letter of recommendation, it was almost silly to think any school district would look over it.

A few hours later, after sitting on the computer digging around for information with Carlisle and Jacob, we had discovered that the History teacher Mr. Flemming had been desperately trying to gain a teaching position at Washington State University. After a couple of phone calls, Carlisle had successfully awarded him his wish. College courses would be starting in a few weeks, and he would be leaving Enumclaw High.

As unrelated as we could make it look, Jacob submitted a resume, along with three letters of recommendation from Carlisle's other aliases to the district saying he qualified to teach either English or History. Most likely he would be getting a call from the Superintendent in the morning, asking for him to come in for an interview. With any luck, he would be introduced to the classes tomorrow as Bella and I had first period history. The timing couldn't be any more perfect.

"Well Mr. Black," I gave Jake a slap on the back. "You're going to have your work cut out for you this year. I'll help you with any teaching preparations if you need them, but as you can tell, our family has lived through more history than any other teacher can even fathom to think of! You'll do fine."

Jacob gulped and looked a bit apprehensive. _I barely passed my own high school classes Edward, how on earth am I going to be able to teach a class full of students?_

"I'll teach you," I replied. "Go say goodnight to Nessie. You probably want to hear everything about her day, and I'm sure Alice has a suit ready for you to wear tomorrow, but you are more than welcome to sleep in the guest room tonight if you would like. Just make sure you sleep in separate beds. We'll get everything else settled in the morning."

"Thanks," Jacob said. "I'm going to grab something from the kitchen first. I'm starving."

I hadn't realized it was nearing nine o' clock and he hadn't had dinner yet. "Oh I'm sorry Jacob. I hadn't realized it was so late. We could order a pizza in if you'd like. I'm not sure if Esme has had a chance to stock the fridge yet."

"I made a trip to the grocery store this afternoon!" she yelled back from the other room.

"Welp, I guess that solves things." Then he headed off towards the fridge.

I started heading towards the basement to join my wife. As much as I loved my whole family, I just wanted to be with Bella. I creaked open our bedroom door to see Bella immersed in Wuthering Heights. Her book bag was set aside with all her assignments neatly piled in order; completely finished. I chuckled. "That book again?" I asked.

"Well when you mentioned it today, I thought I wanted to read it again." She explained.

"I just thought you would have grown tired of it by now. You can most certainly recall the entire contents of it just by memory. I don't see the need for re-reading it."

"Well of course I remember it perfectly, but when I read it, I feel like I can understand the imagery much better. I take my time reading it, and allow myself to enjoy it."

"But it's such a dreary book sweetheart. How about we set it aside for now," I said lightly grabbing the book from her soft, satin hands. "I have something in mind that should be much more enjoyable."

With that, I leaned in for a kiss soft enough to make her shudder, but strong enough to feel the venom within me pulse with excitement. After a few moments, she broke free from my grasp just to say "What about Renesmee?"

"Hmm, Jacob was going to tuck her in, but perhaps we should say goodnight." After five years of being a parent, Bella still had the ability to contain more motherly instincts and parenting skills than I could hardly fathom. Her compassion for her daughter was forever unwavering.

We straightened ourselves out and walked down the hallway to Renesmee's room. Opening the door, Renesmee and Jacob were both sitting on the floor. Jacob with a mouthful of peanut butter sandwich, and Renesmee exuberant with hand gestures, telling him about her day.

"Oh, hi," Jacob's muffled voice said.

"Ness, your father and I were just coming to tell you goodnight. Don't stay up too late okay?" Bella walked over to our daughter, wrapping her in an embrace, then kissed her on the cheek. I followed suit soon after, absolutely glowing with happiness. Even with the hindering unknown we were about to face at this new school district, I couldn't not be happy with my wife and child sharing a tender moment. I knew we would all have each other forever.

"Goodnight sweetheart. Be good, okay?" I asked.

"Always, Dad." She replied wrapping her arms around me. "I love you guys. I was just about to finish, then Jake and I were going to bed."

"Sweet dreams you two, see you in the morning." Bella left them with that, and closed the door behind us. "Now where were we?" she asked. I then whisked her away in my arms and had her back in our room a second later, to pick off where we left off. Any hindering thoughts would just have to wait until morning.


	7. Chapter 7

**Hi Everyone! I'm hoping that this next week I can get some more writing in so this story can really start to take off, but thanks to all who have read and listed reviews! Hope you enjoy this one :) I can't help but giggle every time I think of Jacob in a suit. He's definitely more uncomfortable than even Charlie was at Bella's wedding :P Anyways, enjoy. As always, reviews are nice!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 7<strong>

Hysteria had broken out over the new Cullen mansion. Esme scurried around the kitchen making a big breakfast for Jacob, Carlisle was receiving phone calls from the school board since he was the number one reference on Jake's resume, and Alice stood atop a mountain of clothing trying to dress Jake for his interview. Intrigued by this unusual sight, I decided to join them to see if I could be of any assistance.

"It has to be just perfect. You don't want to seem like you're trying too hard, but if you dress down too much, you'll end up looking like a student. I might suggest parting your hair slightly to the side, just to make you age a couple years. Also, maybe skip out on shaving today Jake. Most young high school boys aren't capable of producing any type of facial hair successfully." Alice was completely determined and in her element.

"Alice I'm pretty sure they'll be more concerned about my responses to their interview questions, not my ability to dress like a Harvard professor." Reading Jake's mind, I could tell he was a lot more nervous than he would ever let on. Carlisle had given him a three page paper to memorize all the appropriate names and studies that he was supposedly already familiar with. It was basically just a long cheat sheet on how to get hired. His irregular fast heartbeat was beating even faster than usual, and beads of sweat were beginning to perspire on the back of his neck.

"Wowy wow Jake!" Nessie had just appeared from around the corner. "Don't you look handsome!" She meant it too. I knew her crush for Jake dug deeper than any high school fling any other girls at school would have. It wasn't so much her response to him that irritated me as his response to her. His breathing shortened, and his heart stopped a beat. My daughter was gorgeous; she definitely took after her mother. Her long bronze curls hung over her shoulder, and her pink cheeks flustered at the sight of him. I have had several years of warning to get used to the idea of Ness gaining stronger feelings towards Jake, but it didn't mean that I liked it.

Jake's face lit up to her comment. "Ya think so Ness? I don't look too goofy?"

"I think you look perfect. Practically every girl in school is going to have a crush on the new History teacher." In reality, Nessie was just thankful that it was Jake being subjected to Alice's fashion torture instead of her.

"I have to get the job first Nessie. That in itself is going to take a miracle."

"Nessie could you run and grab me a comb in the bathroom?" Alice asked. "Also maybe a bottle of gel…"

"Gel? I think that's hardly necessary." Jake moaned.

"Shush Jake! I know what I'm doing."

"I'll just leave you guys to it," I muttered under my breath fighting back a smile. I turned out the door seeking out my beautiful wife.

When I found her emerging from the shower grasping her towel, I gaped in wonderment, racking my brain for something, anything noteworthy of this pristine goddess in front of me.

"Don't tell me I've rendered you speechless again," she mocked me. Her damp hair hang loosely over her back, and the sparse droplets of water glistened off her pearly white skin.

"I can't help it love. When you come out of the bathroom looking like that, I think you could potentially cast any man on this earth speechless."

"Har har," she sarcastically laughed.

I couldn't hold back any longer. In a short moment, I was at her side, slowly releasing the towel from her grasp. Gently pulling her against me, I bent down to kiss her forehead. Then again on her eyelids, down her neck, and finally onto her lips. She moaned softly and whispered "Edward, if you start this now, there's absolutely no way we'll make it on time to school."

"Nonsense! You know as well as I that it takes you less than two minutes to dry your hair and get dressed. The others won't be ready to leave for approximately thirteen, so that leaves us with eleven minutes to ourselves." I nudged her onto the bed and fell on top her, kissing her mouth again so she couldn't argue back.

Thirteen minutes later, we emerged from our room (which was in complete disarray) with Bella looking absolutely perfect. My hair was in its normal state of disheveled appearance, and we headed up the stairs to meet everyone else for a quick family meeting.

"Okay everyone. I understand that you all know how imperative Jake's interview is to this family. If any of you so much as jeopardize his opportunity for this job" Carlisle glanced over to Emmett, "then we will most likely be packed and ready to move again before you even return home."

"Oh come on Dad! You know I like to give him a hard time, but I'm not going to put Nessie in danger because I can't resist pulling a prank!" Emmett may be reckless, but he wasn't stupid.

Jacob stood in the back fidgeting with the papers Carlisle had given him earlier. They were a wrinkled mess and I doubted any of the words were even legible anymore. Ness stood by his side patting his back. "You're going to do great," she said.

Carlisle spoke up again. "Edward, you will take Bella, Renesmee, and Alice in the Volvo. Emmett, Jasper, and Rose, you will take the BMW. That way Jake can take my Mercedes and I will take Emmett's Jeep to work. No one is to acknowledge Jake at the school because you're not supposed to know him. Bella and Renesmee, I know this will be especially hard for you both, but understand that Jake will not be giving you any special treatment throughout the school year. Don't seek out more attention."

Renesmee sighed, and I knew it was going to be a tough year for her. She was ecstatic that she was now able to see Jake during her hours at school, but it may have well been torture for her. No hugs, no inside jokes, no direct contact.

Carlisle and I had planned out the interview perfectly. Bella and Ness would go to class as planned, and I would head to the administrative offices outside the Principal's door pretending to get my schedule changed. This way I could monitor the interview. We had planted a small earpiece into Jacob's ear so that if he didn't have the answer to a question, I could feed him the perfect response.

After hugs to Esme and Carlisle, we all started packing into our cars to leave. Renesmee stood behind with Jake to reassure him. "I'm gonna miss you!" she whispered.

"What are you talking about kiddo? I'm going to be at school with you!"

"You know it won't be the same."

"I know," Jacob sighed. "But I'll see you after school, and I'll tell you all about what happened. Maybe later we can go on a hunt if that's okay with your mom and dad…" He looked up at me hopefully, knowing I was listening in on their conversation.

"Sure you can honey. Jake will be here after school and you can leave then. Just make sure you're home before dark. We need to get a move on though guys!"

Ness hugged Jake one last time as she gracefully slid into the back seat of the car joining Alice. "See you at school Jake," I said giving him a quick nudge on the back. "You're going to do fine. I have yet to fail an interview, and if you're feeding them my responses, you're as good as gold!"

He smiled and walked over to the garage while I headed to the driver's seat of my new sedan.

All of a sudden, Alice was shrieking in the back seat. "Just what in the world are you wearing Nessie? Do you think I bought that top of the line, back to school wardrobe for you just to look at? You're supposed to _wear _the clothes!"

"Well these were in there too!" she yelled. I looked back quickly to see what her ensemble consisted of today. Simple designer jeans with a long sleeve white t-shirt. I couldn't help but chuckle.

"You are so like your mother, Ness." I said, remembering the same first outfit Bella had chosen to wear in her new life.

"I'm dressing you tomorrow!" Alice replied. She was already scheming in her head of only placing one ridiculous outfit in her closet each night, so she would have no choice but to wear what Alice had picked out for her.

When we arrived at the parking lot, Ness and Alice went ahead of Bella to meet Rosalie for Earth Science class. I had started to walk in the direction of the administrative office when Bella tugged lightly at my hand.

_Don't be too long Mr. Cullen_ She thought. Her mind was so intriguing and soulful that I could sit for centuries just listening to it. She showed me an image of her sitting in the back classroom next to an empty desk.

"I'll be as quickly as possible sweetheart. I cradled the nape of her neck to draw her closer to my face for a delicate kiss. "Save a seat for me." She left me with another quick kiss to the cheek and sauntered off to our history class; the same one that Jacob would hopefully be joining us in later.

Seeing that Jacob hadn't arrived yet, I walked aimlessly around the hallway trying my best to ignore the comments of the shallow girls passing my direction. When Jacob's thoughts were closing in on my errant thoughts, I stopped to listen to them. He walked towards the door reciting every name and class that was on his cheat sheet that he memorized. The answers were more of a buffer if for any reason I couldn't answer a question right away, but it wasn't likely for that to happen. I took a step into the office and sat in an empty chair facing Mrs. Delany's desk. She ironically wasn't there, which simplified things. I wouldn't have to try and get rid of her. Jacob entered the office, looked down at me and I gave him a quick smile. He nodded and gulped as he walked past the secretary's desk, and knocked on Principal Berrett's door.

I heard footsteps approaching as Principal Berrett opened the door to his office. He was a large man, but not quite as tall as Jake. His belly reached out on all sides, and the mustache above his mouth moved as he tried to swallow the last contents of his breakfast. He was a good man, I could tell. His thoughts mostly enveloped around his wife and two daughters that were just beginning junior high. His eyes were kind, and very welcoming.

"Principal Berrett," Jake stuttered out, obviously surprised by the large stature of his interviewer. "My name is Jacob Black. You had invited me here this morning for an interview regarding the vacant History teaching position?"

"Mr. Black, so nice to meet you," he boomed. Soon after, Jacob had emerged into the office with the door closed behind him.

"So where to begin," the large man uttered. "I suppose you could start off by telling me about yourself. Obviously I have received your resume and letters of recommendation. That much I know about you, tell me about how you came to be interested in history."

Luckily, last night we had prepared for this question. "Well," Jake started, "If you can't tell from my ethnicity, I come from a tribe in the Northwest part of Washington. Our town is completely filled with legends and mythology. I had become quite enveloped in it at an early age, always wanting to gain more information. Once I had learned everything I could about my own ancestry, I became fascinated with the rest of the world and its cultures. I suppose you could say it has always been a part of me."

"Very interesting. May I ask what tribe you are from?"

"The Makah reservation." We had decided not to associate ourselves with the Quillute's for obvious reasons. The Makah tribe and Quillute's were close enough, so we figured we could fake it.

"How spectacular. You definitely have an advantage to teaching the classes part of your own history then. Now how about your schooling? I see you have letters of recommendation from Professor Hemingway at Harvard while you also studied there. We have already followed up on your references this morning, and Professor Hemingway assured us that you were a favorite pupil. Always receiving top marks on all your assignments. Can you tell me why a star student such as yourself with such high credentials would want to teach in a small Northwestern high school teaching students about History? Forgive me for saying so, but it just seems a little out of place."

"I've always been more of a small town guy. Growing up in a very tight-knit community has held its ground on me, and I would prefer to be somewhere closer to home. I've never really relished in the thought of having more money or a higher profession. I enjoy showing and teaching students the things I already love. It has a definite sense of accomplishment to it. I can only hope that these young adults will find their true passion in life within the next few years, whether it be in history, or any other hobby for that matter."

"It seems as though you might be just the person we need at this school. One more question, how on earth did you hear about this open position? Up until yesterday afternoon, Mr. Flemming, our current history teacher has been with this district for thirteen years. I knew he was interested in teaching college courses. I even supplied him with a letter of recommendation! But he called me last evening telling him of his resignation. Of course I felt a wave of panic knowing the school year had just begun, but after I rang the superintendent and had the position list it online, I received an email of your application! What are the coincidences of that happening?"

Jacob's mind ran blank and he didn't have an answer. _Help me Edward! _He yelled into my head.

"Tell him that you have lived in the area for a few months looking for an open position. After logging in for one last attempt last night before deciding you needed to move to another region, the vacancy opened up and you wrote them immediately."

"Well you see sir, I had moved to Enumclaw about two months ago. I found a great deal on a home, and the town seemed too perfect to pass up. I had applied to the local museum, the community college, but they too had no vacancies. I was beginning to think I would have to uproot again, when I opened my computer as a last resort again, and found that the high school had a new opening. You couldn't believe my enthusiasm upon realizing it was the history position that opened up!"

He was a natural. Principal Berrett bought every word.

"Well it seems it must be fate," Principal Berrett answered. "I personally think you are a perfect fit for this school and can't wait to get you on board. Of course there will be paperwork to fill out, and more hurdles to go through before this becomes a smooth process, but how about we head to your new classroom to meet your future students. I know Mr. Flemming is eager to be out of here since the college semester starts in less than two weeks."

"I would be happy to start as early as today!" Jake answered.

"Well let's get the legal stuff out of the way first, then we can talk about you starting tomorrow."

I heard a rustling movement as they stood and shook hands again, and I hurried my way outside the office doors.

They followed quickly behind and suddenly I heard "Young man, do you have a hall pass or an excuse as to why you aren't in class?"

I turned to look at my new principal and Jake standing behind me, Jake fighting back a smile.

_Second day of school and you're getting yelled at by the principal. I'm totally telling your dad._


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N ****Ok, so this chapter is going to finally start revealing the premise of the story! Thanks to my readers! You guys are awesome. Although, you should all leave me comments to tell me what you think :) Thanks for reading!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 8<strong>

Two days at my new high school and I had managed to slip up twice! Once with a teacher, and the other with the principal…Emmett would definitely never let me live this down. Not a second had passed since Principal Berrett had asked me what I was doing out in the hall without a note, so I quickly turned around to answer him. Charming human men came easy enough to me, but not remotely close to the ease I had using it against females.

"Oh I'm extremely sorry Principal Berrett, you see I was confused with one of the classes on my schedule so I was visiting Mrs. Delany to see if she could assist me in changing it. Unfortunately, she wasn't at her desk, and I decided to return to class so I wouldn't receive an absence."

"Schedule changes should be taken on your own time. What was your name again? You're one of the new Cullen kids that just moved to town right?" Principal Berrett was kind and calm enough that I didn't have to read his mind to know he was going to let me off the hook easy. Shame for Emmett, he would have gotten a kick out of me receiving a detention.

"Yes sir, my name is Edward Cullen. We just moved in last weekend. It's still a weird transition being in a new school, but I have my family here as good support."

Jacob's thoughts rose to my attention. _Not to mention good ol' Mister Black as your new history teacher. Ya know Edward, I may give you a detention just for the heck of it. It's about time someone punished you for butting into other people's thoughts all the time. _Jake's snarky comment nearly made me growl in front of the principal, and I forced my facial expression to relax before he could notice. He was going to pay for that later.

Principal Berrett continued, "Well son, best not get on your teacher's bad side before the quarter has even started. Where are you headed?"

"History sir, with Mr. Flemming."

"Is that so? Well what a coincidence, Mr. Flemming is actually moving on to teach college level courses, and this here is Mr. Black. He will be taking over Mr. Flemming's position starting tomorrow. We were heading there ourselves to introduce him to his new class."

I awkwardly held out my hand to shake Jacob's, maybe a little too hard on purpose, but just enough to see him wince. "Pleasure to meet you sir, I look forward to learning what you have to offer this year. History is one of my favorites." This gesture was so ironic being that I was most likely going to be writing his lessons the entire school year.

"Nice to meet you Edward. Well we best not keep the class waiting, would you like to accompany us there?" I could tell Jake was on the verge of a laughing breakdown. He better get his thoughts in control, or I would be schooling him at the end of the day.

"That sounds great, I was just heading there now anyways."

We passed through the empty hallways, finally approaching a door with Mr. Flemming's name and title. Principal Berrett opened the door and ushered me forward. Every student's head popped up, and I spotted my Bella in the middle row, saving me an empty seat. Her face broke into a beautiful smile and I had to make a conscious effort not to fly into my empty seat next to her at inhuman speed.

"Please excuse Edward Mr. Flemming, he was working out some schedule changes in the administrative offices." Principal Berrett quickly covered for me, and I couldn't help but like the man. Perhaps if his kind actions continued, I'd have to make sure his two daughters had a hefty college account set up.

"Oh it's not a problem sir. Thank you for bringing him back to class. Is there anything I can help you with?" Mr. Flemming responded while eyeing Jake curiously. This was the first time I had seen him in person. Carlisle and I crossed paths with his school photo online, but nothing else. He was a tall and lanky man with jet black greasy hair, and flushed cheeks. His wardrobe was terribly out of fashion and too big for his skinny frame. He seemed a little skittish, but outwardly eccentric. What an unusual man.

"Mr. Flemming, if you don't mind, I'd like to announce to the class what we discussed last night. But first, I want to introduce you and everyone in the class to Mr. Black."

"Oh, umm, of course… if you feel it's necessary. Thank you for joining our class today Mr. Black."

Jake nodded, and I could already hear several thoughts of the girls in the classroom.

_Jackpot. Not only do we get the good looking bronze haired kid, but mister tall dark and handsome is joining us as well._

A short red head girl in the front row made a comment. _Would you look at him, he looks like a modern day Professor Jones. Look at those muscles, I wonder if he travels the world looking for treasure like Indiana too. MMmmMmm._

I snorted at that last remark. Picturing Jacob as Indiana Jones was just about as ridiculous as it got. He may have the muscles, but the brains he has not, at least not when it came to entertaining children.

"Well everyone, I received a quite unexpected call last night from Mr. Flemming. For years he has had a dream to move on and teach college. There were never any openings in the area, so it's been very unlikely for him to get a job in that field for a while. By some chance, the history teacher at Washington State University requested a sabbatical and Mr. Flemming will be taking his place. By some miracle a few hours later, I received an email from Mr. Black here wishing to teach history at this school. Everyone, I'd like you to meet your new history teacher."

"Hello everyone," Jacob muttered embarrassed.

_Helloooo Professor, _the redhead overjoyed in her head.

"Mr. Black here is a Washington native quite literally. He grew up on a reservation near the coast, and graduated from Harvard. I can assure you that you are in good hands."

"Wow really, Harvard?" Mr. Flemming responded. He kept his enthusiasm in check.

"Yes, I graduated a few years ago, and I have always wanted to teach history. I suppose it's the right time because this job opened in the nick of time. Congratulations on your new job opportunity by the way."

Mr. Flemming nearly skipped out of the classroom at the announcement of his replacement. This meant he could start packing his things almost immediately.

"Well Mr. Black, if you would like to stick around for this class period, I can inform you of what we have outlined on the syllabus this year and answer any questions you have."

"That's a great idea you too. Mr. Black, how about you accompany Mr. Flemming for this period, then return to my office for some paperwork." Principal Berrett gave Jake a slap on the back and began to head towards the door. "Nice to see you all, and welcome back to school!" With that, he shut the door behind him, and we were left with the awkward teacher and a full grown werewolf to educate our class.

I quickly looked to my right to see Bella exchanging silly faces with Jacob. He stuck his tongue back to her as the other children filled out a paper that had just been handed out. I kicked her foot, and she turned quickly at me with a menacing stare. "We're not supposed to know him, remember?" I whispered to low for human ears.

_Sorry, I couldn't help myself. He just looks so ridiculous with that part in his hair._

He really did. Alice had succeeded with the gel and part. He looked utterly stupid.

The rest of the class went by fairly quickly as we went over the syllabus (which I would have to change later), and Jacob sat in the corner examining everything he possibly could. His thoughts for once were somewhat boring. At least they didn't involve my daughter. However, I did have to continue to endure all the girls ogling over myself and Jacob, the new "hot" history professor.

When the bell dismissed us, several of the students went to introduce themselves to the new teacher. Bella had to suppress another face as we left Jake to the torturous girls.

Lunch came soon enough, and we were reunited with our whole family. I had occasionally checked in with Alice to see if she saw anything strange. So far, there was nothing out of place today. Of course, Jake wouldn't be joining us at our table, but he did make an appearance to the lunch room. Whisperings of the girls spread again as he joined a couple students in line. We had already gotten our lunch (food props) and were sitting at the table. I caught a spare thought leave Jacob's mind.

_What is this crap? _He thought looking down at the revolting food on the counter. I looked down at my plate to see what was on the menu today. Some sort of processed meat completely covered in a puke colored gravy. It was accompanied by some runny mashed potatoes and overcooked vegetables. As a vampire, it smelled revolting, but I guessed it wasn't too appetizing to humans either because Jake skipped out on it and just took an apple and milk. I suppose I should give Esme a heads up on the hungry wolf that would be joining us for dinner. She would need to cook twice as much for his grumbling stomach.

As he walked out of the lunchroom, most likely joining the other teachers in the teacher's lounge, he glanced over to our table to lock eyes with Nessie. She had history right after me and Bella, but unfortunately that's when Jake was called back to the principal's office for paperwork. I tried my best to dismiss her longing look to the dog.

When lunchtime ended, we all headed to our next classes. Sixth period was pretty boring, but it was eighth period I was looking forward to. Eighth period was P.E. I was dying to see how Bella would fare with her new vampiristic abilities. Sadly enough, there was even a syllabus lecture in that class, but we were given our gym uniforms and lockers before being dismissed.

"I bet you look sexy in those little yellow shorts Mrs. Cullen," I whispered over to my wife.

"If you're thinking of dazzling me into losing Mr. Cullen, you have another thing coming." She was as witty as they came, but I could see that the smart alec comment she gave was just another suppressed urge to jump me on the court.

"Get a room. Gross." Renesmee muttered walking past us. She continued out of the door after collecting her things as she yelled her thoughts in my direction. _It's bad enough that I have to go to school with my parents, you don't have to sugarcoat it with your public displays of affection. Yuck._

I chuckled, and Bella glanced up at me confused. "What is it?" she asked.

"Oh Renesmee is beginning to regret attending high school with her affectionate parents. And here I was thinking I was being romantic. I didn't embarrass you did I?" I joked.

"Oh gosh, we should go apologize." Before I knew it, Bella was headed out the door to console our "scarred for life" daughter.

When we arrived back at home, Carlisle was still at the hospital, but Esme was there to greet us.

"Well how did it go? Did he get the job?" She asked.

"Yes, everything went perfect. As a matter of fact, he should be done filling out paperwork by now, so hopefully he'll be rolling into the garage any minute."

Fifteen minutes later, I could hear the Mercedes pull up to the front of the house while Jacob bolted from the drivers seat. His thoughts were so jumbled, I had a hard time deciphering what he was trying to figure out. As he flew through the front door, I finally caught it, and gasped.

"It's the teacher," he panted out. "Ms. Alvarez is a hybrid, just like Nessie."


	9. Chapter 9

**I am sooo sorry for taking so long to update. It's been pretty crazy with the Holidays. Here is a quick recap on what happened last chapter. I hope you all like it! As always, reviews are nice :)**

_Fifteen minutes later, I could hear the Mercedes pull up to the front of the house while Jacob bolted from the drivers seat. His thoughts were so jumbled, I had a hard time deciphering what he was trying to figure out. As he flew through the front door, I finally caught it, and gasped._

_"It's the teacher," he panted out. "Ms. Alvarez is a hybrid, just like Nessie."_

**Chapter 9**

Bella had just emerged from the basement dragging our embarrassed daughter up the stairs.

"Wait, what?" she asked. "Please tell me I didn't hear you correctly."

All eyes turned to Jacob where he fiddled with his hands nervously, wanting nothing more than to console my confused daughter.

"Bella love, please come sit down. Let's not overreact over this." In reality, this pep talk was more for myself. Another hybrid was teaching at our high school, in Nessie's art class no less. Ness was the only one of us that had a talent for art as much as Esme did. The rest of us used our extracurriculars for other things, so the ironic thing being that this strange woman was teaching a class to my special daughter was nerve racking…and I wanted nothing more than to stomp to her doorstep and demand what she wanted with my family.

Bella gracefully ran to the seat next to me and nearly pummeled me and the sofa over backwards. My arms enveloped her slowly but tightly, assuring her with all my strength that no harm would come to her again. I bent my head to hers and kissed her lightly on her crown. She immediately exhaled and I could tell that my ability to comfort her was indeed working.

Jacob ran to Nessie and picked her up in a huge bear hug. "Ness are you okay?"

"Jeez Jake, spill! What is going on?"

He set her back to the ground and escorted her into the family room where the rest of my siblings and parents waited for his explanation. I was beginning to dislike this room for the number of serious meetings we were already seeming to have in it.

"Well there really isn't all that much to tell. After I saw you guys during lunch, I went into the teacher's lounge to eat. I was just about done when she came in. She looked pretty flustered and upset about something, so I didn't really bother to talk to her. After she walked right past me without an introduction, I was able to feel her skin for a brief second. There wasn't a difference between hers and Nessie's at all."

I was trying to slowly gather in this information without skipping ahead into his thoughts. I held Bella more tightly to me, and she lifted her knees to her chin while laying her head on my shoulder.

"So they have the same temperature? Jacob I hardly think that qualifies her as a hybrid," Carlisle chimed in. I could tell he was moments away from jumping into his interrogative routine when he heard about anything supernatural. "What did she smell like? Renesmee has a unique scent and I think the others would have picked hers up by now, especially if it were so similar."

"See that's what I thought too! But I was in the room with her, and I definitely took extreme measures to try and figure out what she was without being too obvious. She grabbed her lunch from the fridge and sat down at a nearby table. She really didn't even take a second glance to me. There were only two other teachers in the lounge, and they were both engrossed in their own conversation to notice either of us. Don't get me wrong Carlisle, I hardly think her temperature puts her in the hybrid category, but that's when I noticed how off her scent was. It wasn't anything like Nessie's. Or Nahuel's when we met him. If I remember correctly, both of them smelled pretty similar. I looked at Ms. Alvarez again and tuned into her heartbeat. Like birds wings it fluttered fast, and I knew she wasn't human."

"Alright Jacob, so she has a quick heart beat and a high temperature. You said she looked flustered? Sounds like she might be coming down with the flu, nothing else."

Alice then decided to voice her opinion on the matter, and I had to agree it made perfect sense. "He's right Carlisle. Think of the vision holes I've been having. My visions involving the wolves completely disappear. My visions involving Nessie however, just black out her and nothing else. I can see her classroom, but not her in it. Like someone took a black marker and placed a giant dot over wherever she is. I have the same problem when she's in the class with Ms. Alvarez. Unless she's some other type of supernatural creature, I don't see any other options."

"I didn't get to finish. After I noticed her heartbeat, I noticed her diet. A big bag of veggies. I watched her take in each bite, and I could have sworn she was wincing with every chew; definitely not enjoying any of it. Think about it, Ness doesn't eat vegetables. She despises them! Ness mostly only drinks animal blood, and a few other human foods. That's what makes her smell so vampire. Just think, if Ms. Alvarez were abstaining from not only blood, but human meats altogether like a human vegetarian, her digestive system would make her smell completely different."

"It's an interesting theory and highly plausible." Carlisle added. "But I can't be sure. It doesn't really seem like we have enough evidence except that she is a sick woman in need of medical attention. The rest could be a complete coincidence."

"Since when is anything in this family just a coincidence!" Bella yelled at my father. I had never seen her raise her voice against him. "Something is wrong, and we can't just sit here and wait for something to happen!"

"No of course not Bella, we will make sure we take extra precautions to ensure Nessie's safety." Carlsisle seemed just as surprised at Bella's outburst as I was. His eyes welled up and I could tell he was a little hurt. Bella noticed too because she rose out of my arms and headed in his direction to give him a hug.

"I'm so sorry Carlisle. I'm just being overprotective. I know you'd do anything for this family."

"You are all my life. Esme and I wouldn't know what to do if we lost any of you. We love you all so very much." Carlisle was compassionate, yes, but for him to lay out his feelings in front of the whole family was a rare occasion. This tender moment was not unseen by everyone else, and Esme stepped in to console my Bella too. Their silent sobs rose together as my mother and my wife let out any frustrations they had built up inside.

I wanted so badly to interrupt them. I wanted to whisk my lovely wife into my arms and run far from this house so no one could hear us. I wanted to protect my little family. I wanted to control the emotions of my daughter towards Jacob. Suddenly everything in my head became overwhelming and I found that I was holding my breath.

"Edward? Edward are you alright?" I snapped out of my built up hysteria and let out a huge sigh. Bella was still frantically trying to gain my attention as she kept tugging at my arm with one hand, and her other caressing my cheek.

"Yes, I'm fine," I lied. I became suddenly acutely aware of the fact that everyone was staring at me with wide eyes, waiting for me to fall on the floor or do something completely…human? "Why what's wrong?" I asked.

"You just sort of froze in this weird position and your head started, I don't know, convulsing? Like you couldn't decide where to look and you went into this sort of frenzy." Bella was still cupping my cheek as I tried to fish for an explanation to her statement. Did I really do that?

The overwhelming sensation that had taken over me moments before was not gone, but smoldering deep into my mind. Could I ever keep my family safe? Would we ever reach the point in our lives where the Volturi weren't looming in the future and other creatures were preying on my loved ones? I suppose the whole Jacob matter was something I would eventually have to come to terms with. That day didn't need to be today.

"I don't know what happened. I just got overwhelmed I suppose. Too many things to think about." I knew this answer wouldn't be sufficient enough for Bella, but I really didn't want to spill out my worries to the rest of my siblings. This family matter was substantially more private.

_Edward sweetheart I'm not buying it. Let's go downstairs for some more privacy._

I had a better idea. "Would the rest of you mind if Bella and I went out for a private hunt? We could really use some alone time." Bella raised her eyebrows at my comment, but I could tell she had no opposition to spending some alone time with me in the woods. If only I could contain myself until we got there…

"Ugh Dad, you promised Jake and I could go hunting after school. I'm seriously starving here! All I've had to eat this whole week was a nasty grease slice of pizza and some nasty chicken fried steak crap. I neeeeed to hunt!"

That's right I did promise her. I looked hesitantly over to Jake as he remembered the over-processed meat in the lunch room earlier, noting his grumbling stomach. Drat, I forgot to tell Esme he was hungry. That didn't mean there was plenty of forest for all of us.

"Oh that's right sweetheart I did promise. Well if you two are okay with it, you could take off down the southeast side of the house, and we'll take the northwest. The forest is quite large."

"Sounds good to me. I'm famished Ness, do you want to go now?" Jake peeled off his blazer and started towards the door.

"Eh, Jake!" Alice nearly shrieked. "That is a brand new, one of a kind, fitted just for you Gucci tailored suit. Definitely not for hunting. Now go downstairs and change into some jeans before I strip you naked in front of the whole family!"

The next moments included Emmett erupting with laughter, Rose mimicking a gag reflex, and to my disappointment, my daughter smiling, while picturing none other than Jacob Black naked.

"Renesmee!" I shouted. She looked at me terribly embarrassed and if it weren't for the others standing in the room with us, I'm sure she would have taken off to the deepest crevasse of the basement, never to face me again.

"Alright, alright…I'll go change." Jacob nearly skipped down the stairs, trying to hide the fact from Renesmee, and mostly me that he was positively elated that the comment Alice had made had had that effect on my daughter.

I did my best trying to excuse both of their behavior, so without wanting to address the situation any more tonight with either of them, I grabbed Bella's hand and headed to the back porch.

"What happened in there?" she asked.

"Trust me, you don't want to know." Before she asked any more questions, I let her hand slip from mine and raised my eyebrows at her, giving her my most _dazzling_ look. "Race you," I whispered into her ear. I took off chuckling as I heard her swoon behind me.

"Hey no fair! That's cheating!" But I didn't stop. I let her trail slightly behind me, just enough to keep her wanting more.

The electric vibe her cheek left to my lips was utterly impossible to ignore. It took every ounce of my strength to keep running, and not turn to pounce her into the ground. I loved this part of our relationship. The playful side. It was something we weren't able to wholly appreciate until after she had changed. I always had to be so careful, and she had to be reserved. Any small movements were always noted, and the force to take her to bed was nearly overwhelming every time I saw her. Now half of our relationship consisted of playful banter. We didn't have to be careful, so we didn't try to be.

The sun was just about to head down over the horizon leaving us in twilight. I caught sight of a small meadow up ahead and ran towards it. I quickly slid behind a large trunk knowing it was completely useless to try and hide from her. I peeked my head around my left shoulder and as I did so was nearly pummeled into the ground from my right side.

"Mr. Cullen, you weren't trying to hide from me were you?" Bella lay above me with her dark curls hanging down around her face, tickling my nose.

"Moi? Why would I ever want to hide from you?" I pulled the nape of her neck closer to my chest, breathing in her scent.

"That was very rude of you Edward Cullen, to tease me back there and then take off, leaving behind a very broken hearted girl." She lifted her chin up slightly so I could gaze into her dark, golden eyes. Her lip pouted out ever so slightly, fully knowing of its power to push me into a complete guilt trip. God, how I loved her.

"I am" _kiss "_so sorry" _kiss "i_f ever made you feel bad," _kiss. _"It will never happen again. I promise. Forgive me?" It was my turn to use the pouty lip, and I tried my very hardest to give her my puss in boots look the way I remembered from the movie Nessie watched as a small child.

"Oh jeez that's not fair!" she cried. "How could anyone be upset with you with that face." I was still lying on the ground, but she now sat up and straddled me. It was not an uncomfortable position. I pulled the collar of her shirt towards me as I searched intently for her lips. When they finally found refuge, I let out a small moan and she finally surrendered.

Her hands traveled over the plains of my skin seeking eagerly to find someplace they hadn't already discovered. I knew it was a lost cause as we knew each other's bodies as our own, but I still gave her credit for trying. I attempted to slowly unbutton the front of her blouse knowing we wouldn't have any clothes to return in if we ravished the ones we were wearing. She seemed to think the same thing, fumbling over my own, but eventually got impatient and ripped the light fabric off with two fingers.

"You know love, Emmett is going to rip on us if we show up back at the house stark naked," I chuckled. She was now kissing my collarbone, heading towards my abdomen where I could almost hear the smile in her voice.

"I don't care," she whispered. I hadn't had goose bumps in over a hundred hears, and I swear she just made my hair raise with that comment. Suddenly I didn't either. In another swift motion, I rid us of the rest of our clothing, and for the rest of the night, the only sounds we made were the kisses leaving each other's bodies, leaving our worries until tomorrow.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Bella and I walked slowly towards the house with the sun rising behind us. The pale outline of the light glowed through the clouds. Overcast again. Alice wasn't anticipating a sunny day in Enumclaw until next Wednesday. I held Bella's hand in mine as she suppressed a giggle.

"What's so funny," I asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I feel like Adam and Eve. We just got kicked out of the garden and now we have to face a world full of problems."

"That's a good way to put it. You know, we could call in sick if you wanted to. I know a doctor who could get us a note."

"Please don't tempt me. We have way too much on our plate right now to be that selfish. Let's run back and get dressed to see if Ness and Jake got in safe last night."

I gave her a quick smile and started running full stride. Bella kept up well enough, but the tricky part was going to be getting back into the house without being seen. I held in my right hand a bundle of ripped fabric that had once been our clothes. Nothing had really been salvageable.

"Shhh," I whispered. Not that any alert member of my family wouldn't have heard me. I took my chances though and led Bella to the back part of the house where the basement door was. "Wait here."

I walked forward and listened intently for any thoughts inside the house. Carlisle was in his study typing away at his computer. Esme was in the upstairs craft room cutting paper with scissors. Jasper and Alice weren't present, but I could hear Emmett and Rose having at it in their own bedroom. Two doors away in the basement, I heard Nessie's breathing and Jacob's heavy snoring next to her. So much for separate rooms…

"Okay, coast is clear," I whispered. Bella took my hand again as we walked forward to push the door open. Unfortunately, the hinges creaked giving us completely away, and I could hear Emmett and Rose becoming alert of someone entering the house.

"Run!" I yelled dropping the clothing at the threshold. Two seconds later, Bella and I were behind the door, locking it behind us. Not that the lock held any purpose at all, but the gesture stated enough.

"Hey Edward, you left something out here!" Emmett came stomping around to the front of our door.

"Great," I moaned.

"What is it?" Bella asked.

"Our clothes. I dropped them when we ran into the house. I think Emmett found them."

"Emmett! Not a word! Don't make me bring up our arm wrestling match! Not one word, do you hear me?"

"Aww come on Bells, I think we're long overdue for a rematch. Eddie, why on earth were you carrying old cleaning rags inside the house? These aren't your clothes are they? Now what could you have been doing- - in the woods, on a hunting trip nonetheless that involves stripping naked? Mauled by a bear perhaps?"

"Emmett," Bella growled. She was now dressing herself in a pair of sweats left on the dresser next to us. I would have fought for her to stay undressed until at least six in the morning, but I knew Emmett would only make matters worse if we let him continue. She handed me some pants, and I slipped them on. "Emmett, put the clothes down and walk away. Ness is still sleeping, don't wake her up."

Bella opened the door for us to find Emmett wide eyed and grinning standing in front of us. He held my ravaged pair of pants up to his waist while making a little swirly motion with his hips.

"Give them back Emmett," I said as I tried to grab them from his hands.

"Nuh uh uh dear brother. I believe I just found some leverage over you two. Now listen to me, if you don't want me waking your precious daughter this early hour of the morning only to tell her that you spent the majority of the night sexing it up in the forest like the animals, you'll do as I tell you."

"What is goin' on out here?" Jacob came out from the hallway wearing a pair of sweatpants and no shirt. His eyes were squinting open and his hair was flying in all directions.

"Nothing Jake, just go back to sleep…In the guest room this time. I won't ask you again."

His eyes sprung to life as he turned his head realizing which door he just came from.

"Oh crap. I'm so sorry Edward, we were just talking last night and we were both so tired that before we knew it, we were asleep. I totally didn't mean for it to happen, it'll never happen again I promise, I'm so sorry." His words were flying a mile a minute.

"It's okay Jake, but don't make any promises you can't keep. I doubt that in the rest of your existence, you can promise never to spend the night in Nessie's bed again."

Jake gulped looking over at my wife, arms folded and toe-tapping.

"Right, ugh, I'll just go back to bed then. What time is it?"

"It's five," I replied. "We'll wake you in an hour or so."

He turned with his head hanging, slumping through the door next to Renesmee's.

It was hard enough being a father. But being a father of a girl who aged prematurely was fiercely more difficult. When did we cross the line with her grown up tendencies? Realistically, we should be raising a seven year old, but in many ways she was more educated and mature than any parents; however she was encased in a sixteen year olds body with raging hormones, and a crush on a werewolf. I loved my little girl, but at times I wished for a life where I could raise her like any other parent; controlling, all knowing and overprotective. At least I was one of those things.

"Well that was close," Emmett snickered.

"Emmett, hand the clothes over to me right now. You will also not utter a word of this to anyone else. Got it? Or else I'll spill about the time I walked in on you wearing that absurd teddy bear costume while Rose groped you and called you were favorite toy." Bella puckered her face while she lifted her shield letting me witness the scene she had just described.

"Agh! Bella! That is something I never wanted to see." I started laughing hysterically, depending on my knees to support my upper body.

Emmett was compromised. His jaw was still hanging open as he handed the shredded clothes to Bella. "Not a word," he muttered, flying back towards the stairs. As soon as he was out of sight, we both lost it.

"Did you see the look on his face?" Bella cackled from the ground. "I thought he was going to pee his pants!"

"I bet if he had a functioning bladder he would have!"

For the next few minutes we let ourselves laugh at our leisure, finding it even more amusing when we caught eye contact.

When my phone alarm beeped at 6:15, I stood from the bed, leaving Bella with a kiss to her forehead, heading into Nessie's room.

"Goodmorning sweetheart," I said sitting on the edge of her bed. I wiped the hair from her face as she opened her eyes up to me.

"Morning," she mumbled scrunching her eyes, trying to hide under her covers.

"Nuh uh Ness, school remember?"

She growled "Right. School." She shot up in alarm pushing the covers off her legs. "Crap. Crap crap crap crap!"

"What's wrong hun?"

"My Introductory English essay. I didn't do it last night. I got so distracted with everything going on, and then Jake and I fell asleep early."

"Get dressed sweetie. I'll type up something quick for you to hand in. Try and keep up though, I don't want you falling behind, even if you are smarter than the rest of the class."

"You're supposed to say that because you're my dad."

"No, I'm saying that cause it's true. I'm supposed to ground you for not doing your homework."

"Am I grounded?"

I had never grounded her in her life. I wasn't going to start now. "No, but just cause Jake is a teacher does not give you a free pass to toss aside school work. You wanted this remember?"

"Yeah I know. Sorry. Won't happen again Dad."

"That's the second time I've heard that this morning. I came in here to wake you up to remind you that Jake and you need to sleep in separate rooms. I get last night was a mistake, but make an extra effort to get to your own beds each night. Deal? Or else you will be grounded."

"Got it."

I left to knock on Jake's room to wake him. He was already up and dressing in the suit Alice had laid out for him the night before. When I got back to our bedroom, Bella had already showered, dried her hair, and gotten completely dressed, so I quickly got dressed and headed up the stairs to greet the rest of my family. I sometimes wondered why we bothered with the whole "human charade." Not that I was willing to go out and tell the world that I was what I was, but that we even bothered with high school. None of us had learned anything new in decades at a high school. Usually if we craved an education, we started off at a college. Before we had moved to Enumclaw, I tried convincing Bella to let Ness start out at a community college, rather than the high school. Her answer was of course no, that she wanted Renesmee to have every experience she did as a teenager. It made me shudder to think of all the things Bella and I did throughout our high school experience, fervently hoping Ness wouldn't have to go through any of it.

"Morning everyone," Jake said marching into the kitchen grabbing a muffin on the counter. "Wow Esme, these are great, did you make them?"

"Yep, fresh out of the oven dear. Take some with you, there's plenty. Also I packed you a lunch. Edward told me this morning how horrid the school cafeteria was.

Jake's face lit up. Esme's cooking was the equivalent of a child getting to eat chocolate cake for a meal. Not that I had any experience enjoying any of it. It always smelt like rancid dirt and smouldering muckus. Nasty.

"Thanks!" He exclaimed pulling her into a giant hug. "Seriously, I didn't even buy lunch yesterday. It looked like they just warmed up some canned baby food or something."

"Jake, grab a muffin and join Carlisle and me in his office. We've outlined a pretty simple plan for your first lesson. More of a get to know you day. I thought we'd review it before I let you loose to a pack of crazed teenagers."

"Sounds great, meet you there in a sec."

By seven thirty, we had perfected his first lesson. He'd have to tell his classes his personal life history; which we'd tweaked just slightly so it didn't reflect too much on his Quileute heritage. He'd then ask for examples from the class if they knew their heritage. He would write them on the board, and tell them which histories they'd be studying this year, which was outlined on Mr. Flemming's syllabus.

He all headed out the door and Jake took stride over to Carlisle's Mercedes again. After he pulled out, I turned to Carlisle and said "Looks like we may need to get you a new car Dad."

He smiled. "Or get Jake one. I think he'd find it more enjoyable to go out in search for his new family car."

"You know he'd never agree to it."

"He will if I say I'm taking mine back and he won't be able to keep up his image with that little red rabbit he's so insistent on fixing."

Not to self, take Jacob car shopping this afternoon.

We got to school with time to spare as always so we headed to our lockers to relieve ourselves of some textbooks. Bella for once was giving Alice a hard time on her appearance today.

"Did you even shower today Alice? Your hair looks a little tussled."

Alice just giggled as I got a peek of her and Jasper playing around the old boxcar behind our house.

"Alice!" I exclaimed.

"Whoops, sorry brother." She smirked. She turned to Renesmee to bring up conversation, straying her thoughts somewhere less inappropriate.

Today I was keeping an intently close eye on Renesmee. She would have her art class again today, and I was trying my best to find any stray thoughts that resembled anything unusual. Unfortunately, I had never heard Ms. Alvarez's voice in person, so her thoughts were as foreign to me as any other persons. To my dismay, she was doing a good job at staying hidden.

"Everything okay? You look a little worried." Bella came to my side, delicately tracing her fingers up and down my arm.

"Just fine. I'm trying to find Ms. Alvarez though. No luck so far."

"Alice said everything is fine at the end of the day. If we could only get a clue in on who or what she is, it might ease my mind a little more."

"Everything will be fine," I said pulling her into an intimate hug. I kissed the crown of her head while I heard her sigh. I had a feeling we would be going back and forth with this throughout the whole day. Each taking turns assuring each other everything was fine. When I saw Jacob approaching us in the hallway, I broke free of our hug, and immediately turned to Renesmee who looked like she would jump out of her skin at the attempt to keep from giving us away. I didn't need to read her mind that what she wanted more than anything was a hug from her best friend. Jacob held a stack of papers in his hand that he was trying to rustle into his book bag while walking. 

"Damn briefcase…" he muttered. I nodded in his direction.

"Good morning Mr. Black."

"Morning Edward, Bella. And how are you today Renesmee?"

She giggled at his awkward grown-up impression.

"I'm fine thanks for asking."

The door next to us opened in the middle of our awkward exchange in the hallway where a tall, long haired woman emerged. She wore a dark red skirt suit and ruby lips. Her face was a light olive color and her eyes seemed almost black with the shadows of her makeup heavy on her lids.

"Ah, Mister Black," she muttered in a light accent. "I'm sorry we haven't officially met. I'm Nina Alvarez. You're our new history teacher are you not?"

Jacob gulped and nodded, but not before exchanging a quick glance at me screaming in his mind _it's her. _

"Ms. Alvarez," I chimed in. "It's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Edward, I'm Renesmee's brother. She's already told me so much about your wonderful class."

The rest of my family had now slowly gathered around us, Rose nearly livid and ready to rip this woman's head off. Emmett kept his hands on her shoulders as a precaution. Alice looked at her intently trying to get a read on her with no luck, and Bella's shield was obviously around us all because the rest of the hallway had fallen silent.

Damn it Bella, let me go I thought. I looked in her direction swiftly, raising my chin to tell her to lift her shield off of me. She understood at once and the hallway became a buzzing mess.

"Ah yes, so nice to see you again Renesmee. I look forward to seeing what you'll be able to whip up in class today. Your drawing of Rio the other morning was quite mesmerizing. You have such a talented sister Edward."

The more I looked into her mind, the more drawings and paintings I saw. She was unveiling several students' work until she remembered Nessie's in her brain, keeping me out of her immediate thoughts.

"Yes, she's always been our little Picaso," I replied.

"Well it was nice to meet you all. See you later in class Renesmee."

I thought for a moment that I had failed. I had retrieved nothing. I looked at her one more time before she swerved her head around in a quick motion, yelling in her thoughts.

_GET OUT OF MY HEAD!_

Then she continued onward, towards her classroom, leaving me with a stupefied face.


	11. Chapter 11

**I'm so so sorry it's been so long since I've updated. I got super busy, then honestly forgot about this story. But here is a long chapter for you all, and hopefully I'll keep up with weekly updates. Let me know what you think!**

**CHAPTER 11**

"What just happened?" Bella asked as I continued staring down the long hallway after Ms. Alvarez. How had she known? How could she tell I had been looking for her thoughts? In nearly a hundred years with my special talent, I had never run into problems like this.

"Earth to Edward!" Bella was now knocking me upside the head. My whole family looked for any confirmation or reassurance of what I had just heard.

"She knew," I whispered. "She could feel me in her head. She knows we're keeping an eye on her and she's not very happy about it."

"What do you mean she knew?" Alice shrilled. "That's never happened before has it? Can she read your thoughts?"

"I have no idea. I was digging around her mind looking for anything, but when she turned around she yelled at me to get out of her head. I suppose it could have been a guess if she already knew about my talent. But how could she?"

At that moment, the first warning bell rang telling us to get to our first classes.

"Well kids, best be off. You especially Eddie. You wouldn't want that math teacher of yours to have another reason to hate you." Emmett sneered and grabbed Renesmee's hand. "Come on kiddo, you're in good hands with me. No worries, we'll see them all at lunch."

The six of us remaining watched Emmett trail my daughter off to class before Jasper and Alice dispersed into a separate direction.

Jake cleared his throat while his thoughts raced a million miles an hour, worrying for Nessie's safety. "I guess that's my cue to get to class. See you at the end of the day. I'll see if I can find anything out in the teachers' lounge during lunch."

I nodded in reply with Bella tugging at my hand. "Come on Edward. Did Alice see anything bad happening today?"

I shook my head. "No, everything looks fine."

"Then let's trust her. Emmett is right, we'll see everyone again at lunch before she goes to her art class. Mr. Weston already doesn't like you, we need to hurry before we're late and get assigned seats."

We followed the remaining hoards of people to our classroom. The late bell rang right as we crossed the threshold, and kids were already seated. One new problem arose; the two seats Bella and I occupied the other day were no longer available for both of us. The blonde boy sat in my old seat, with Bella's still vacant adjacent to him. His old chair in the front of the classroom was obviously where I was supposed to be sitting. Not in this lifetime.

"Take the front one, love. I'll take the back seat next to tonight's dinner." I growled.

_Be nice_. She asked.

Mr. Weston entered the classroom looking irritated already. "Is there a problem Mr. Cullen? It seems you'll be rubbing me the wrong way all year wont you? Take a seat."

I started towards the back chair next to Goldie.

"Mr. Cullen, how about you take the front seat so I can keep my eye on you. Miss Hale, please take your seat next to Scott in the back there."

So the idiot had a name. He better watch himself. I sat into the front, blue, plastic chair before turning my head around seeing Scott give me a smug smile.

_Stay calm. Pay attention, I'll be fine._Bella tried assuring me. It did little to help.

It was clear that this classroom would probably test my patience and strength even more than that first biology class eight years ago. No matter; if Mr. Weston wanted a straight A student, he was going to get it. I'd show him up. There's no way this clown knows his crap better than I do.

"Alright people, now that we're all settled into our seats, we're going to be jumping right into the lesson. Supposing most of you forgot the majority of your basic algebra last year, today will be a recap. I'm handing out a worksheet to see what level the majority of you are at. The first few questions will be more simple, while the end of the worksheet will advance on to beginning calculus. I don't expect many, or any of you to get those questions right, but you will not be graded on this. I'll give you a half hour to complete as much as you can. When you've done as much as you can, please come forward and but your worksheet face down, into the basket."

Mr. Weston gave stacks of stapled packets to the front row where we handed them towards the back.

_Edward, I suck at math! I was expecting you to help me with this!_

Bella was worried, but I knew she'd ace the test. At least she'd get through the main parts of the worksheet without any trouble. I smiled at her as she grabbed her packet and looked at it. A few seconds later, she immersed herself into it, and I turned to mine.

"Mr. Cullen, perhaps you want to use a pencil," Mr. Weston gestured at the black fountain pen I pulled out of my bookbag. "I don't like messy scribbles for mess-ups."

"I'm sure I'll be fine Mr. Weston." He sternly gazed at me, but after a while went back to reading a textbook on his desk.

Sheesh these were baby problems. I whipped through the first page in thirty seconds; making sure to show my work so I wasn't accused of cheating. Second page, still easy. Third page, I could see where other students would have problems with this one, but still no trouble. The fourth page had the supposed "calculus," but I had learned the crap dozens of times already anyways.

I had finished the entire worksheet in under five minutes, gazed around, and saw that most of the class was still adding and subtracting on the first page. I slowly stood up and walked towards Mr. Weston's desk.

"Do you have a question Mr. Cullen?" he asked.

_Probably doesn't know how to solve long division, the moron. I'll probably have to stay late on school nights to tutor him._

"Actually sir, I finished."

"Didn't get that far? That's alright Edward, hand it in and go back to your seat. Are you sure you don't want to look over your answers?"

"Actually I finished the packet. I'm quite certain I've gotten them correct." The whole class now had their heads up facing our exchange. Mr. Weston's face burned red with anger, doubting my mathematical abilities. I turned back and sat in my seat.

Immediately, Mr. Weston grabbed my packet, and what I'm guessing was the answer key to his right. The next few minutes I listened into his thoughts and saw him match my answers number for number correctly through to the last page.

_Show off._ Bella shouted through her thoughts. _I'm hardly done with the second page!_

"Mr. Cullen, could I please have a word outside for a moment?" Mr. Weston looked beyond livid now, but I couldn't help but look forward to this conversation.

"Certainly." I stood up and followed him into the hallway.

When the door shut behind us, I could instantly hear all the murmurs of the students inside. Of the twenty or so students gossiping about my possible detention, one thought stood out to me clearest. That douchebag Scott was already making moves on my wife. I had to push those thoughts out for now though, so I made my best puzzled expression and turned to my angry teacher.

"Was something wrong with my worksheet Mr. Weston?" I asked.

"What I want to know Edward, is how exactly you came across my answer key before the class."

"But that's preposterous!" I exclaimed. "Why on earth would I go through the trouble to steal answers to something we wouldn't be graded on? Why would I want you to think I can solve equations when I really can't?"

"Well what other explanation is there? It would take me at least ten minutes to get through that last problem alone! You finished the entire packet in less than five."

"I have always been exceptionally good at math, sir. If you'd like to test me again, I'd be more than happy to oblige."

"Don't smart mouth with me. You have a detention after school. You'll spend an hour with me after school today to see exactly how much you can do, and how much you were cheating."

"Fine with me," I answered nonchalantly.

He huffed passed me and entered the classroom where the buzzing chatter immediately ceased. I followed in, looking straight into Bella's eyes with worried concentration.

_I'm fine, really. Scott's nothing I can't handle, you know you have no reason to be jealous. Please don't get into more trouble. _

I nodded once, very discretely so no human would notice and sat in my chair.

Twenty minutes later, everyone was asked to turn in their papers and return to their seats. The rest of the period was fairly anti-climactic as we went over the majority of the problems on the worksheet and solved them as a class. I was never asked to come to the front and write on the board.

The bell finally rang where we were released from my hell.

"Think about it Bella!" Scott yelled sauntering past me.

"Think about what? I asked.

"Oh hush, it's just a party. And I never said I'd go with him."

"What party?"

"That Allison girl. She was in our history class yesterday, the one with the red hair?"

The obsessive one referring Jake to Indiana, I remembered.

"I think we'll be skipping out on those festivities, love."

"I was thinking the same thing, just don't tell Alice."

"Tell me what?" Alice was already skipping towards us.

"Alice, no." I said sternly. She was already shooting me images of the entire family dressed up at some ridiculously lame high school party.

"I've already seen it, we're going."

"Alice we're supposed to be blending in remember? Trying _not _to get noticed?" Bella whispered.

"Oh phooey. Everyone knows who we are anyways. We might as well enjoy it!"

And before we could rebuttal any kind of response, she was gone.

"We'll have to talk to her about that later. I hate parties," Bella grumbled.

I let out a big laugh and pulled her into a hug. "Have I told you how much I love you today?"

"Yes, but I need some reminding every so often."

"I'm so glad you are still you. I love your stubbornness. I love your distaste for fashion. I love that even in the last five years I still catch you biting your lip. I love you Isabella Marie Swan," I whispered.

She looked up at me with a warm gaze. "I love you too Edward Cullen. Thanks for choosing me."

"I think we chose each other," I teased her back. I left her a soft peck on the mouth before taking a breath for concentration.

"Come on love, let's go to English."

"You know, I'm remembering now how much I hated school. Why did we come back again?"

I took her hand heading towards our next classroom. "You tell me dear. I was the one trying to talk you out of it."

"Ah, I remember why now," she said walking into English class. Already sitting in the front row was our adoring daughter; notebook out, pencils sharpened, and ready to learn. Bella took off in front of me heading towards Renesmee and the two empty seats she had saved on either side of her.

"Oh, hi! I hope you don't mind, I kind of wanted to sit in the middle today if that's okay," Renesmee smiled.

My little family reunion was starting to look like a Hallmark bucket of mush any second, so I chose to move forward giving my daughter a noogie, and replying with "Sure, no problem."

The numerous times I had done that to Alice, she shrieked loudly, and caused a fit for messing up her hair. My daughter on the other hand, looked up towards me grinning her widest smile, and for just a moment you could see her young, five year-old eyes staring back at you. For just a second, she was just my little girl.

English was pleasant enough, especially after my tirade with my first class. When we were dismissed, we headed towards the cafeteria to meet up with our family.

"So, any news on next period?" I asked Alice anxiously? Her thoughts swam around with the same holes as the other day.

"Nope, whether Ms. Alvarez's position here is merely a coincidence or here for a purpose, she doesn't have any plans to do anything but paint with watercolors today."

I saw Jake make an appearance to the cafeteria only for a few minutes. He stood in a short line to grab a soda, exchanged longing glances at my daughter, pulled out his phone and sent a text message. I generally didn't listen in on people's thoughts during texting because it took too long. With these two, I made an exception.

**How is everything going today? Are you alright? I miss you.**

Seconds later, Renesmee was already quickly typing back on her own phone back to Jacob.

**So far, so good. I have Ms. Alvarez next…I miss you too, and you look damn sexy in that suit.**

"Nessie!" I yelled from across the table.

"What? I didn't ask for you to snoop. You know, most parents just have to go around guessing what kids text to their boyfriends. How did I get so lucky to have a parent that can read my every thought."

"I sense sarcasm…"

"Ya think?" She turned quickly to her thoughts.

_Look Daddy, I'll always be your little girl, but I'm growing up. Sorry to be so blunt, but please please, just get over it!_

I inhaled a breath to calm my senses, and without even thinking, I brought the prop soda can I had in my hands to my lips, and swallowed the nasty stuff. In seconds I was sputtering all over the place and Emmett was nearly on his knees laughing.

_You idiot! You're not actually supposed to drink the stuff! It's for pretending you moron! _

"Excuse me," I sputtered, then headed towards the bathroom.

A minute later, I had my finger down my throat, and my head in the toilet. Yellow, greenish liquid fell into the bowl as I idly remembered the Mountain Dew I purchased earlier. How vile. How did humans drink that stuff?

I emerged from the stall to wash the filth from my hands.

"Well, well, well…If it isn't the sissy Edward." Behind me in the mirror, I saw the Scott kid zipping up near the urinal. Great, this day just keeps getting better and better.

"Look man," I answered. "I don't want any trouble, so how about you leave me and my family alone."

"Well I guess that leaves that Bella chick to me then doesn't it? I mean, unless you're related which I gotta say is just sick man. You keep shooting me this hot-headed, angst ridden teenager charade, but I can see right through you. You're nothing but a cowardice, pansy, ass-kissing loser. Trust me when I say Bella will be mine by homecoming. She wont even remember your name, you asshole."

"Edward? Are you okay in there?" I guess Bella was more than just my savior. In that moment, she may have just helped spare this kids life.

"Oh how sweet, she checks up on you in the bathroom while you piss dude? You're probably whipped huh?"

"Yeah babe, be right out!" I yelled back.

A second later I had my hand up against Scott's neck with him pinned to the wall.

"Listen, you pompous jack ass. Bella is _mine, _and she will never want you. And stay away from my sister too, or I'll break every bone in your body, you got it?" His eyes were wide and frightened. He nodded slowly, and I lowered him down.

"Good." Then I left the bathroom behind me.

"Are you alright? Who was that in there? What happened?" Bella was frantic, and checked for any signs of trauma on me. Honestly, I was made of marble. What could any human boy do to harm me?

"It was that Scott kid. He was pushing me around so I told him to leave you and Renesmee alone. And yes, I'm fine. No harm done."

"You sure? It looked like you inhaled about half that soda in there."

"Oh, yeah, I'm not quite sure what happened with that. Too distracted I suppose."

"Honey, when you're distracted, you veer off center an inch on the freeway. I'm worried about you. This whole week as been completely weird, maybe this was a bad idea."

"No!" I promised. "I want you and Ness to have this experience. I'll be good from here on out, I promise. Everything is fine, really."

"Okay, if you say so. The bell is about to ring. I grabbed your bag, so we can go straight to class."

"But Ness…"

"Is fine," she cut me off. "Alice assured me of it."

The next period, I hardly listened to another word of this poor teacher. My thoughts were completely concentrated on Alice and Renesmee's thoughts. When they were assigned to start another art project, Ness kept crawling into my mind. _I'm fine Dad, really. Pay attention to your class!_

Then again a few minutes later.

_Seriously Dad, if you're still listening that's kind of sad. You need to get a life!_

And near the end of the lecture.

_Still unscathed Daddy dearest. See you soon, love you._

I smiled at the last one which went didn't go unnoticed by Bella.

_Everything okay? _She asked.

"Totally fine." I whispered back. This reassured her enough before Bella was out the door in seconds where we were greeted by our daughter in the hallway after class.

…which got a little weird to be honest.; at least to the public eye. No girl should be cradling any other girls head like that.

"Erm, Bella,we got psychology." I said shrugging her away from an awkward "supposed-to-be just-friends" embrace from Ness.

"Right. See you after class Nessie?"

Our daughter giggled. It was rare her mother used that nickname on her.

"Yep. See you after class."

Psychology was even more dismal than class the few days before. Our teacher was a short, stout woman in her forties, and very stern. She had us all take turns reading from the textbook before and gave us a worksheet to complete for homework.

Then, at long last, the day was over. Our family regrouped near our lockers to set out for the parking lot. That was until I was reminded _my _day wasn't over yet.

"Mr. Cullen, are you ready for your detention?" Mr. Weston stood at the end of the hallway near his door looking right at me."

Damn, I forgot. I looked over at Emmett, who was tight-lipped, and trying very hard not to laugh.

_A detention? Man Eddie boy, you're losing your touch! Oh man, I can't wait to tell Carlisle!_

"Right. Be right there Mr. Weston."

I turned to my family who looked abashed at my newly found out punishment.

"Ness, you ride home with the others, I'll bring Edward home," said Bella.

"No it's okay, I can work on my homework while we wait." Renesmee chimed in.

"Oh, good idea. I guess we'll meet the rest of you at home then. Tell Jake we'll be there soon."

_I guess it would be a bad idea to be seen with Jake driving me home huh. _Renesmee asked.

"Mmhmm…" I mumbled discretely.

"Nice one, Smart Alec." Rose teased. I shrugged it off, gave Bella a kiss, and headed towards my next hour of hell.

"Next time Mr. Cullen, don't take your time. I have a personal life too." Mr. Weston complained as he closed the door behind me. His personal life seemed very limited from the small glances I saw into his home life. In his classroom on the front and center desk lay a stack of papers with equations.

"I take it you want me to solve these?" I asked.

"Don't sass me boy. Of course I do. And in case you were wondering, I printed these all off various books less than ten minutes ago. I haven't even yet printed the keys to them. No chance for you to cheat this time."

"Whatever," I scoffed back.

I sat down at the desk and reached again for the black fountain pen.

"You may want to change your mind with that pen Mr. Cullen. On tests, I take points for illegible papers."

I recounted my handwriting that I had perfected for over a decade. He would have no problem reading it. So I huffed at him and started at the first page. There were sixteen pages all together- the last three being advanced calculus. I still went through each problem with ease. It took me nearly thirty-five minutes to complete every page, but when I was finished I stood up and handed the paper over to my overbearing teacher.

"You sure you're ready to hand those in?" he asked.

"Positive. I'm 100% for every answer."

"Very well," he replied.

He clicked a button on his computer and a few pages printed from his printer. I returned to my seat and watched steadily as he reviewed each answer.

_This is impossible. This is a college test! I should have taken hours to complete. _

After five minutes, he stood up again and spoke.

"I don't know how you're doing it Cullen. Whether you're some undiscovered genius, or pulling my leg in any way, I'll find out. You're dismissed. See you Friday."

"No tricks Mr. Weston. I just said I was very good with numbers."

I headed down the hallway, turned a corner running right into Jake.

"Sheesh bloodsu..I mean Edward. Done already? Ness told me about your detention," he droned the last word out in a mocking tone.

"All done. Where are the girls?"

"The library. I'm going to head out." _See you home?_

I nodded. "Catcha later."

I found my two beauties in the small, empty school library with their hair flowing over their shoulders, hiding their faces. I had come in quietly, but my scent must have given me away. Renesmee looked up first and was up and running towards me before I had time to take another step. Lucky for us, the librarian was in the back room, logging checked in books into the system and organizing them onto carts.

By the time Ness reached me, I lifted her up, spinning her around like I did when she was a child. Her arms immediately wrapped around my neck as she set her head back, letting her hair flow in the circle we were spinning in. She was a total daddy's girl, and I loved every second of it.

Her bright smile lifted my spirits from my shoddy day, and in setting her down, I looked over at my dear wife watching us with loving adoration. How did I get so lucky? Sure days like this seemed like hell, but what I got in return at the end of the day was worth any pissed off teacher or loser teenage boy trying to get on my nerves. My family was all I ever needed.

"Ready to go?" Bella asked gathering hers and Renesmee's book bags.

"Yep, let's blow this joint." I was so ready to leave this school. When was graduation again?

The sky was overcast as always, and my new Volvo was one of the few cars left in the vacant lot.

"Shotgun!" Renesmee yelled, running towards the passenger door.

"Ugh, fine! But I call it on the way back from school tomorrow!" Bella replied.

"No way, you have to call it when you're outside, _and _about to leave. That's the only way it works!"

"We'll see Renesmee. I can run faster than you, ya know." Bella was playful today. Maybe tonight would make up for my crappy day.

After we were all settled into the car and on the road, Bella decided here to be more vocal in thought.

_So is everything okay with Mr. Weston, or will we be staying late after school every day from now on?_

I shook my head.

Renesmee interrupted our private exchange. "You know, I can tell when you two are having private conversations in your head. How about we talk out loud like _normal _people for once!"

"Well Ness, your mother was asking whether I would be attending detention after class for the rest of the school year, and as far as I know, I'm not."

"What did you do to piss him off so bad Daddy? Teachers usually love you!"

"It seems Mr. Weston doesn't like know-it-all people who can upstage their intelligence."

"Oh honey, what did you do?" Bella asked worriedly.

"Nothing wrong. I just got every problem right on the worksheet and he accused me of cheating. Then he had me do another worksheet after school to try and bust me, but I got all of those right as well."

"Maybe they'll hire you to teach the class, Dad."

"I would probably take it. It would be worth giving that Scott douche a detention every day for the rest of his life."

"Edward, he's an innocent, hormonal boy. Just leave him be." Bella was my better half, always taking the high road.

"Wait, wait wait, who is Scott?" Renesmee asked curiously.

"Just a pretentious jerk who tried convincing me today that your mother was his next girlfriend." I answered wryly.

Both Bella and Renesmee busted up with laughter.

"Seriously Daddy, and you got jealous? On what planet would Mom leave you for an ugly, pig-headed jerk?"

"I don't like hearing his thoughts," I muttered angrily, remembering his vivid imagination of him and Bella straddling each other in some bedroom.

"Well no one asked you to listen to them. Maybe you should keep your nose out of other people's business. It will get you in trouble someday."

"You mom is my business Nessie Bug. Let's just say it's a good thing your mother came to check on me in the bathroom when she did. Three seconds later Scott would have been drinking toilet water."

"Boys…" Bella muttered.

"In other news, was there anything else interesting in Ms. Alvarez's class today Ness?"

"Not really. We learned watercolor techniques. She didn't single me out at all or talk to me individually. No weird stares, no nothing."

"Hmm, hopefully Jake got some more dirt on her then. He should be home by now."

A few minutes later, I turned into our long driveway, pulling into the cul-de-sac near the front door. As soon as I turned the car off, Ness was jumping the steps two at a time and inside by the time I had gotten out. What a long day. Maybe I'd call in sick tomorrow.

"Come here Edward." Bella pulled me in by the waist where my arms reflectively pulled her in closer. I took a in a deep breath, smelling the strawberry shampoo that she still used. It was a comforting remembrance.

"I'm so glad to be home," I whispered.

"Me too. I'm sorry you had a crappy day, want to talk about it?" she asked.

I shook my head in response. "No, I'd really just like to forget about it and enjoy my wife till this monstrosity called school steals her from me tomorrow."

"I know it's a few days off, but I was talking to Alice after you left to your detention. Tuesday and Wednesday next week will be sunny. I guess we'll be needing that doctor's note after all." She smiled eagerly up at my tense face.

"Really?"

"I was thinking we could leave Monday night and spend a few days with Charlie."

My father-in-law had stayed exceptionally close to us throughout the years. We had traveled a lot, but always veering back to the little town of Forks. Of all the places I had lived in the world, or will ever end up, Forks would always be our home.

"That's actually a fantastic idea. Ness will be excited. I suppose Jake will tag along to check on the tribe."

"Perfect." She gave me a peck on the cheek and started leading me inside.

What I encountered inside was anything but welcome. Carlisle stood at the base of the stairs with his arms folded and a scowl on his face.

"Edward Anthony Masen Cullen. What is all this I hear about a detention on your first week? We need to talk."


	12. Chapter 12

**Sorry again for the long wait! Thanks for being so patient, as a result here is a super long chapter! I'm already almost done with the next one so you wont have to wait as long :) Leave reviews!**

**CHAPTER 12**

I gawked open mouthed at my father, instantly making me feel like the adolescent boy I really was.

"Carlisle, I can explain. It's not my fault." He continued to scowl at me. I turned to my right looking Bella, but her face was unreadable. It was just completely blank and gave no indication to me that she was coming to my defense.

"Don't even try to talk yourself out of this one Edward. I would expect this kind of thing from Emmett, but not from you. You know how hard we've all worked to get here and you're going to throw it all away because you're jealous of a little pubescent human boy?"

I hung my head in shame. I had never in a hundred years been lectured by Carlisle; even during my rebellious years. I listened for forgiveness through his thoughts, but something was off. I could hear the rest of my family in the other room just fine, but everything in the entryway was dead silent.

"Bella? What's going on?" She caught eye contact for a split second, and instantaneously the whole house erupted with laughter. Emmett was holding onto Carlisle's side where both of them used each other as anchors for their boisterous bellows. Bella was holding herself up by balancing her hands on her knees with her body franticly shaking. Esme, Alice, and Jasper were in the foyer with their giggles, and Jacob and Renesmee were both on the floor in fits of laughter.

"What's going on?" I asked again, a little more irritated.

"Oh man, Eddie. You seriously thought you were in trouble there," Emmett barely had enough air to finish his sentence.

"Oh son I'm sorry," Carlisle spoke next with laughter escaping every other breath. "I've never been mad at you for anything; I had to see what you would do."

"You were in on this?" I asked Bella incredulously. My own wife plotting against me?

"I'm sorry! Emmett texted me the idea when you were in detention. Plus maybe now you won't pick on that Scott kid anymore."

"Me, pick on him? He's the one trying to steal my wife and five year old child!"

"Oh grow a pair Eddie. Bella would knock him out before he even tried to do anything." Emmett said.

"Whatever. I'm going to my room."

"Awe come on Ed, no need to be a wet blanket." Emmett would only get worse.

I could handle being pestered by petulant school children and clueless math teachers. But Carlisle and Bella? I wasn't in the mood to take crap right now. I brooded down the hallway and made my way downstairs to our room. I sat on the left side of the bed near my desk where a framed photo of my family stood. It had been taken earlier that summer at Isle Esme by Jacob. The palm trees loomed over us and the sun was almost set in the background leaving the slightest shimmer from our skin. Ness even looked younger. Why did we choose to come back to school? We had spent the last few years at our leisure, worriless from the world. No fights, no Volturi, no half-breed teachers kicking me out of my head and making me worry for the safety of my little girl.

There was a knock at the open door and I knew it was Bella before I turned to face her. We never fought. I turned back to the photo wallowing in my self misery.

"Can I join you?"

"It's your room too."

"Edward stop acting like a child, it was just a small prank." Bella walked into the room sitting on the bed next to me.

"It's not just that. We could be in so many more places. We could be back in Forks with Charlie. Jake shouldn't have to be separated from the pack. We could be back in Rio in our own world. Instead I get dressed every morning worrying if there's more harm that is after my family. I just hate high school and it's turning out to be more trouble than it's worth."

"Honey we've had this discussion. I'd love nothing more than to live in our own fantasy world for the rest of eternity, but we need to give our daughter some sense of normalcy. I need this too. I miss civilization; as much as I'd love to stay locked up in our cottage day and night, we need to continue living a regular life, for our sake of humanity."

"I know, love." I heaved a long sigh.

"I think I know what will get you out of your funk."

"What's that?"

"Didn't you say you would be taking Jake out to find a new car today?"

"Crap, yes I did. What time is it?"

"Nearly five. Dealerships don't close for a few hours. How about you two go right now, and we can go for a run when you get back?"

Space from the house did seem like a good idea, and I could speak with Jake about where his relationship with Ness was heading.

"Okay. Love, I'm sorry for being angry."

"Heightened emotions. I get it." She took my hand in hers and I immediately felt our electric current run deep into my skin. The touch sank deep into my skin, instantly warming me and lifting my spirits.

"Thank you." I said.

"Anytime babe. Now go spoil our future son-in-law and get him a nice car."

"Ugh, please don't call him that. I'm too young to be a father-in-law."

"Edward you're a hundred and fifteen. I think it's safe to say you're nearly past your expiration date."

I stood up, leaned over and gave her a swift kiss on the lips. "Let's not talk about this now. Be back soon."

"Whatever you say. Love you."

"Love you more."

I headed up the stairs to find Jacob. My family was in the living room all doing various activities with Esme sat at the dining table sketching on a pad of paper, Carlise was deep into a book, Rose was cuddling next to Emmett with her legs dangling over his while he focused on some college football game on television, and Jake was racking through the fridge.

"Hey," I said.

Everyone turned heads in my direction. In a few seconds a chorus of "sorry's" echoed through my brain.

"It's fine. I'm fine. Where's Alice and Jasper?"

"They went for a drive. Should be back later this evening." Carlisle replied.

"Jake are you busy?" I asked.

"Not particularly." He answered with a mouth full of Doritos.

"I need to do something. Want to help me out?"

"Umm, sure?"

He rolled up the bag of chips, wiped the residue on his pants, and looked at Renesmee. She looked as clueless as he was. Good.

"We should be about two hours. See you guys later."

Jake followed me into the garage where I climbed into the driver's side of my car. He saddled into the passenger seat and pressed the side button down to give him more leg room.

"Wanna tell me where we're headed?" he asked.

"Nope, it's a surprise."

"Am I in trouble?"

"Why, did you do something wrong?"

"Not that I know of."

"Then no, you're not in trouble."

I pulled out onto the road and headed into the next town over. There were three dealerships in Buckley, Washington. All of them were right off the highway; pretty easy to find.

We drove in silence for a little bit while I listened to his hysteric and terrified thoughts.

_I totally did something wrong. He's taking me somewhere to kill me. He probably saw Ness and I making out on the couch last night. Crap he can hear me. _

I grinned. "You know, you may as well just speak out loud. I said you're not in trouble."

He make a large audible gulp and turned wide-eyed and terrified to look me in the face.

"I'm sorry Edward. It's just, the last time we ever had one-on-one time was before Nessie was born. Will you tell me what's really going on?"

"Nope, still a surprise. However, now that you bring up the subject of Renesmee, let's talk about that for just a few minutes."

The overcast sky was rolling in darker clouds and just a few moments later we were caught in a full-fledged rainstorm.

"Look, I know she's only 5 years old. Wow that sounds perverted. But really Edward, she's like a sixteen year old girl. I understand if you don't want us to date yet, but…"

"I didn't say anything like that. I know she's growing up. In many ways, she's probably more mature than you are."

"I know she is. Smarter too…"

"Jake, I want you to know that as hard it is for me to come to terms with my little girl growing up, I know I wouldn't be able to find another man on this planet that loves her as much as you do. I know that her feelings have changed for you as well, and she won't want anyone else but you. So whether or not you want it, you're stuck with us for life. Just promise me a few things okay?"

"Sure, anything."

"No sex until marriage. The thought of my seven year-old daughter just kissing boys makes my stomach turn. And on the subject of marriage, there will not be a wedding until she has fully matured and grown. Two more years at least, got it Jacob?"

"Yes sir. I love her Edward. You know I'd do anything for her."

"I understand. But she's still really young; she has so much to learn about this world. Let's not pressure her into anything alright?"

"I promise."

We slowed into town once the speed limit changed to 25mph. The rain was slowly letting up and I turned into Carl's Car Dealership.

The lot seemed pretty deserted, but I parked next to the small building entrance and switched off my engine.

"Umm, why are we at a car lot?"

"Because Carlisle wants his Mercedes back, and your Rabbit won't cut it for a first class professor who went to Harvard."

"I can't afford a new car!"

"Don't be ridiculous. I know what a teacher's salary looks like. I'm getting it for you."

"I don't need a new car!"

"Sure you do. Do you think I enjoy watching you drive around town with my own daughter in that little Rabbit? We're getting something with top safety ratings."

"Good afternoon gentleman. What can I do for you today?" A short, portly man with a mousy comb over wearing a red button down shirt appeared from a closed door. His name tag read 'Craig Forman' and he wore a genuine smile.

"Hi Craig," I introduced myself holding out my hand to shake. "My name is Edward Cullen and this is my friend Jacob. We're looking for a new car."

"New? Meaning new off the lot car?"

"Yes sir if you've got them. I'm looking for something with all-wheel drive and a high safety rating. Preferably a sedan. What do you suggest? Money is no object of course, we just want the best you've got."

Jacob stood beside me eyeing all the classic used cars out the right side of the window. I could tell one of the Shelby G.T.'s had caught his eye. He wasn't even listening.

"Well Mr. Cullen, I have a favorite myself. We only have two of them in if you'd like to follow me out around back."

"Jake, let's go."

"Could we at least test drive the…"

"No, you want to get home soon right?"

"Right, let's do this."

We followed Craig out the back door where the new cars were parked. We stopped in between two midnight blue Audi A8's.

"I just got in next year's models for these two. They come in about five other colors, but I just have the blue's in right now. There's also black, white, canary yellow, red, and burnt orange. I can have them ordered and here in a week if you like the car."

"What's the safety rating?" I asked.

"It received a 9.6 for this last year's model. One of the safest cars on the road. They common model is in rear-wheel drive, so the all-wheel drive will be a little more pricey."

"How much?" Jacob asked.

"This one is $73,000. The rear-wheel drive models run about $65,000."

"Damn, Edward this is too much."

"Do you like it?" I asked him.

"Well of course, she's beautiful. I just can't justify driving this car to and from town."

"What if I said you could drive it to Forks this weekend, would that help?" I replied with a smirk. We hadn't yet told him we were taking a quick trip home.

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah Monday and Tuesday will be great weather. It's a perfect opportunity to go say hi to the family."

Surprisingly, I was attached by Jacob in a massive bear hug. It reminded me somewhat like Emmett.

"Ah hem." Craig interrupted. "Well son, do you want to take her for a spin? I'll have to have you fill out this sheet before you leave."

"No problem." I took a clipboard from his hand and filled out all the required information.

"Right, I'll be back in a jiff."

He came back out with a set of keys in hand. I looked over at Jake who was grinning ear to ear. He excitedly held out his hands for the keys Craig was holding between his thumb and index finger.

"Thank you Craig. We'll be around the block and back in a few."

"Sure thing. I'll be back inside. Holler at me when you're back and we can talk about financing."

Craig walked back into the small grey building and Jacob was already in the car, adjusting the mirrors, seats, and playing with the lights. I opened the passenger door and climbed in.

"This is the only car we've looked at Jake, are you happy with this one?"

"Are you kidding me? Have you seen my Rabbit, and have you seen this thing? We could totally watch movies on this little screen here!"

He was already adjusting the XM radio controls on the touch screen.

"Well, the the main purpose of this thing is for transportation. Let's take it out of the lot for a few minutes okay?"

"Already on it."

Jake leaned over to press the start button located next to the steering wheel and the engine roared to life, well more like purred. He eased us out of the driveway and turned left towards the highway. Once we were passed city limits, he put more gas to the pedal and we were nearing 90mph.

"Beautiful." I said. "Mind speeding up to see how she does with the upcoming turns?"

He didn't even reply. His lips turned into a mischievous grin with his eyes still concentrated on the road. We were now at 110mph. As we approached the upcoming curve in the road, the car glided upon it without any trouble.

"Slow down." I said. "There's a police car ahead about 3 miles." Just a few moments later, we were passing a cruiser at the safety speed of 60 miles per hour.

"Okay, let's take her back. You happy with the blue? Or did you want to wait for another color?"

"Blue is perfect. That way I have a car a different color than all of yours. We already have silver, black, yellow, and red covered. Edward this car really is a lot of money. I could give you payments or whatever until I pay it off."

"Jake, one thing you're going to have to learn with this family is we've got the money. We've had investments for hundreds of years and money in nearly every major country on the planet. You're basically stuck with us for eternity. Also when one person makes money in this family, it's everyone's money. Stop complaining, you're getting the car."

"Thank you, so much. Really I can't thank you enough."

"No problem. Let's head inside and get it paid for. You can drive it home if you'd like."

We pulled back into the lot and parked the A8 right next to the dealership entrance.

"Everything run smoothly? How'd she drive?" Craig asked walking up front from the back entrance.

"It was perfect thanks. We'll take it," I answered.

"Fantastic! Why don't you head back into my office and we'll run your credit report and get you set up with a loan officer."

"Actually, we'd like to pay for it in full today if that's alright."

"In full? You're telling me you have seventy-five grand in your bank account right now?"

"Yes sir." I reached into my back pocket for my wallet and pulled out my black Visa.

"Right then. Do you have I.D. with this Mr. Cullen?"

"Of course. Here's also the name of my banker if you'd like to verify everything with him. Also, we'd like the title to be in Jacob's name. Can you give him your license Jake?" I slipped out my Washington driver's license and bank card and handed it to Craig while Jacob fished for his license.

"Okay. If you'll just hang tight for a few moments gentlemen, I'll be back with the paperwork."

He disappeared behind the door to his office, so Jacob and I took a seat in the scratchy, blue waiting area chairs.

"So we're really going to Forks this weekend?" Jacob asked with a smile.

"Yeah. Monday through Wednesday are supposed to be sunny here. I figured you'd want to say hi to your pack. We're heading down there Friday evening right after school."

"You really have no idea how much I need that right now. This whole teaching gig is just getting to me you know? I was never cut out to be a teacher."

"You're doing a fantastic job, Jacob. And yes, I know exactly how you feel. It will be nice to have a few days of no school to get reacquainted with everyone down there. I know Bella misses her dad."

"When was the last time you guys saw Charlie? Before summer?"

"Yes right before our trip to Rio."

"Ness has gained two years since then!"

"I know. Hopefully he won't freak out too much. Did you know last time we were home visiting, he had us sit down and watch that movie Jack? The one with Robin Williams that ages 4 times faster than the average human being?"

Jacob snorts. "Seriously? What did you do?"

"Just had to reassure him Renesmee would be fine and her aging was slowing down."

"Did he buy it?"

"Well, he dropped it. Besides him muttering _stupid need to know crap_" around the house the rest of the night.

"Has he gotten any closer to figuring you guys out?"

"Charlie's head is fairly private. He has a couple theories. Vampires have crossed his mind a few times because of the whole werewolf thing, but he dismisses it as quickly as possible. He prefers being in the dark."

"Alright gentlemen." Craig reappeared from his office with a stack of papers. "I've spoken with your bank and have already run your card. Everything seems to be in order. Our dealership offers free oil changes and service for up to five years after your purchase. This packet contains the title and owner's manual. Here is the receipt and two sets of keys. I'll just need to you sign on those four lines and she's all yours."

I took the BIC ballpoint pen from his clipboard and signed my name in my familiar script. "There you go," I said handing the paperwork back to him.

"Well boys, you certainly made this too easy for me. Wish every sale was as perfect as this one. Let me know if you have any problems with it, but everything should run smoothly. You two are the only one's who's driven it. Have a wonderful evening, it was a pleasure."

"Thank you Craig. It was exactly what we needed." Jake and I shook hands with the man and then head for the door.

I handed a key fob to Jacob and pocketed the other.

"I'll put this on the key rack in the garage in case one set gets lost. Or if anyone needs to use it they can take the keys."

"Edward, I can't thank you enough."

"I know, you're welcome. Let's get home to our girls shall we?"

"Race you?"

"Not yet. Maybe this weekend? Charlie may be a little more lenient on us if we get caught."

"Deal."

We both climbed into our cars and headed home.

I followed Jake up the driveway and into the cul-de-sac. We hadn't even turned our engines off before Renesmee and Bella were on the front steps to greet us.

"Whoa Jake! New car!" Renesmee was already ogling over the new Audi.

"Want to come for a ride with me?"

"Can I Dad?" She asked.

"Yes you _may_, but you're not allowed to drive it yet. Not until you get your license."

"Okay. Jake let's go! Thanks Dad!" Ness ran to the passenger seat and had her seatbelt on and door slammed shut in a matter of seconds.

"Well, I'll have her back by nine. She'll probably be hungry."

"Okay, drive safe Jacob."

"I'll protect her with my life. Don't worry."

"I know. See you soon. Also, remember separate beds tonight. Got it Jake?"

"Got it."

Moments later, the new A8 was peeling out of the driveway and you could hear Ness screaming with delight. It was now Bella and I standing on the pale gravel driveway.

"How about that run?" Bella asked.

"Please. It's been a rough day."

"Let's sneak around out back." Bella was already unfastening the button on my jeans with her other hand dangerously pulling on my collar about to rip my shirt.

"Maybe we should bring a spare set of clothes this time?" I suggested.

"Way ahead of ya. I hid a stash out in the woods. Let's go." She whispered.

Her eyes were still a beautiful amber color from our hunt the other night, but you could still see the mystery and deepness in them reflected from when she was a human. This woman owned me body and soul. I took her hand in mine, and before I had time to answer her, I had us sprinting into the fields behind our new home- heading towards the forest.

The next morning, Bella and I walked slowly back to the rear entrance of the house. We arrived before the sun came up because I still hadn't gotten around to finishing my homework from the night before. Damn homework. What a waste of time. I could hear that each of my family members were already home and in the confines of their private rooms. We walked into our private suite and stepped into the bathroom.

"Take a shower with me?" Bella asked.

"I assumed I was invited already."

"You're always invited."

She got the water running and We both stepped into the steaming shower. I poured a generous amount of her shampoo into her hair and slowly lathered it into her head.

"You managed to stow away some of the forest into our shower babe." I said pulling out two leaves from her locks.

"Don't look at me, you put them there."

"Probably."

"Edward are you doing okay? You seemed really stressed yesterday."

"I'm fine. This weekend will be really good for me I think. I want to go home." That little cottage had become somewhat of a sanctuary to me over the last few years. I couldn't wait to go back.

"I know, I'm excited too. I called Charlie yesterday to tell him we'd be there late Friday evening. He wants us to come straight over if that's alright."

"Fine with me, I miss him too."

We finished our shower giving me an hour to finish the mundane worksheets from my high school teachers.

"Next time we enroll in school, we're going to college." I muttered.

"I agree. High school kids are too immature for me to handle."

The next two days dragged out agonizingly slow. The whole family was heading down to Forks to see Charlie and the packs, and we were just as excited to see they as they had somewhat become our new family.

When the final bell rang for school, my siblings were already heading back to the house to grab our bags for the trip. It took us about an hour to be reassembled in our driveway, ready for our journey back home.

"Dad can I ride with Jake?" Ness asked.

"Sure sweetie. Your mother and I will be right behind you."

Rose and Emmett would be riding with Carlisle and Esme in the Mercedes while Alice and Jasper drove with us in the Volvo. The three and a half hour drive went by quickly with Bella's new mix on her iPod and casual conversation. Ms. Alvarez hadn't made any indication that she was a threat to the family, but she didn't associate with us either; which was peculiar. Without the drama of anything happening the last few days, the only topics that came into conversation were what we had planned to do in Forks, which didn't amount to a lot.

The wolves had redefined the treaty with us in the last few years. Nessie had turned all of our worlds on their heads which basically forced us all to cooperate with each other whether we liked it or not. We were allowed to cross over each other's borders without any retaliation. Seth, Embry, and Quil often visited Ness and she also sometimes had play dates with Claire as a young child. Now she was given opportunities to babysit her with any free time. Time never amounted to much with me, now with a daughter, I relished every second of it. Time was just too precious around here.

Alice mentioned something about taking Bella and Renesmee shopping in Port Angeles since there was nothing good in Enumclaw. I was just waiting to see how that conversation would turn out in real life. I saw the vision in Alice's head of them at some dress store, so fighting was basically a lost cause. We planned to arrive at Charlie's house around eight at night. Alice and Jasper would drop us off at the house where we'd meet up with Jake and Renesmee.

Pulling up to the familiar driveway, we saw that Jake, Ness, and Charlie were already assembled outside admiring the new Audi. The clouded sun was barely peeking over the mountains marking twilight. I could not wait to get home.

"Heya Bells! I missed you, come here." Charlie slammed down the hood of the new vehicle and approached his daughter.

"I missed you too Dad," Bella replied running into her father's open arms. The cold of her skin didn't bother Charlie anymore. He had accepted whatever had happened to his daughter to be for the best. Whatever kept her safe was the right thing.

"So, an A8 Edward? A little extravagant for a twenty-one year old kid, don't you think?"

"I'm not a kid anymore Charlie!"

"My mistake, I meant dog." He joked, giving Jake a nudge on the arm.

"Well aren't you the comedian." Jake responded.

"Well Charlie, in my point of view, I'd rather have Jake parading my daughter around in a car that we know works perfectly, and has passed every safety rating with flying colors. That rabbit Jake drives dents like a tin can."

"Fair enough. Well it sure is pretty. Could I take a spin later on Jake?"

"Sure, we'll be here for a few days. I'm sure you could take the keys tomorrow if you'd like.

"Excellent. Are you kids hungry? Sue's got some leftover roast in the fridge we could heat up for you."

"Bella and I are fine. We stopped to eat on the way, but Jake is always loading that pie hole of his with whatever food he can find."

"I'm a growing boy! I need my protein!"

"Jake have you seen your muscles?" Bella joked. "I think you're good with protein. I know what your diet consists of."

"Whatever. Let's see how Sue's meatloaf compares to Esme's."

Jacob headed up the stairs into the house first, proceeded by Charlie and Bella in conversation. My daughter came up to me giving me a hug.

"Hey Daddy. Good drive?"

"Hi sweetheart. Perfect drive. How did you and Jake do?"

"Seriously that car is amazing! Can I get one when I get my license?"

"We'll see. I'm still not sure how I feel about you driving considering what happened last time."

"Oh come on Dad, you know that was an accident. And it would take a lot more than that for me to get hurt."

"And how far are you willing to go to test that theory Ness? Let's just wait till you're a little older, then we'll talk about it."

"Okay. So what are we going to do this weekend?"

I started escorting us into the house as I answered her. "Well, I'm sure the packs will want to see you. Esme was thinking of throwing a dinner together Sunday night and inviting everyone over. Also, Alice wants to take you and the girls shopping tomorrow in Port Angeles."

"Ugh, Dad. Can't you think of some kind of excuse? Ground me or something?"

I chuckled. "Sorry hun. I'd get in more trouble if I grounded you. It will be a girl's day. Jake needs to drive into town as well. You can drive with him."

"Fiiiine." She complained. "What else?"

"Well, it's just family time. We don't need a schedule for every hour of the day do you?"

"Guess not. Let's get inside, I'm famished! Sue's roast is amazing, sure you don't want to try?" She mocked me, knowing every traditional family dinner Bella and I were forced to feed the vile human food into our systems, only to run into the woods after to hurl it up immediately after.

"Very funny. Come on, let's go." I ran my fingers down her hair, untangling the messy copper curls that hung from her back. She was the perfect mix of Bella and me.

We left Charlie's house around eleven in the evening. The four of us climbed into Jake's car, and headed down the driveway.

"I'm going to sleep at my dad's house tonight if that's alright. I know he'd appreciate it." Jake said.

"Oh can I come? I'd love to see Billy."

"Ness it's a little late, don't you think? You know you'll be asleep in an hour anyways."

"Okay," she droned. "But can I run to the res in the morning to wake up Jake?"

"We'll talk about it."

"Yes!" she chanted. She knew it was hard for me to say no to her. Bella was the stern parent.

Jake dropped us off at the main house where we grabbed our bags, hollered at the family to tell them we were headed to the cottage, and started walking to our home.

The weeds had grown over the summer flowers a little too heavily. The leaf pads on the pond needed to be cleaned out a bit, but as soon as we opened the doors to our first home, it just felt as though we were arriving back after a long vacation.

"Hmm…it's good to be home." Bella sighed.

"I know exactly what you mean." I dropped our bags at the door and lifted my wife into my arms, carrying her into our bedroom.

"Blech, can't you two wait twenty seconds for me to shut my door first?" Renesmee yelled.

Bella laughed. "Maybe we should invest in some soundproof doors for this room, babe. I don't want to scar our daughter for life.

"Maybe you're right. That's a long life to be scarred for."

Although my dead heart no longer beat, the electrifying sensation that erupted every single time I touch her skin is just as potent as the first time I touched her. I brushed my cheek alongside hers and swept my lips across to meet her own. She let out a deep moan as I deepened the kiss and held her the same way as I did the first time I kissed her in this room. In a swift motion, I ripped the delicate fabric of her blouse into pieces, throwing it on the floor. She jumped from my arms, grabbed my waist and threw me on top of our California King bed. Her fingers found the waistline of my jeans and she pulled quickly, leaving them in tatters next to her shirt.

We both halted for a moment when we heard blaring music coming from Renesmee's room for her feeble attempt to cover the sounds coming from behind our doors. Hmm, perhaps she should have stayed with Jake after all tonight. Oh well, she's a heavy sleeper. She'll be out in a few minutes.

"Love? Maybe we should keep it down a little bit until Renesmee's asleep."

"I make no promises, but I'll try." She whispered back into my ear—her tongue sweeping the walls of my lobe and arousing me even more.

"Not helping Bella," I muttered. She just giggled in response.

"Oh, you know how I love that noise. I threw her under me so I was now straddling her on the bed with her arms captive in my hands, held above her head.

"Oh, are we playing a game Mr. Cullen?"

"Always, Mrs. Cullen."

Renesmee's CD eventually stopped and we knew she was asleep when there was no attempt to turn it back on. For the next eight or so hours, we reacquainted ourselves with every inch of our room that we had recently left behind.

Around nine in the morning, I heard a light tapping on our door indicating Renesmee was awake.

"Is it safe to come in?" she asked.

Bella sped across the room and was back in bed with a silky, pale blue robe in less than a second. I already had some sweat bottoms on. With my arms wrapped around Bella, I invited our daughter in.

"Come on in hun." I said.

"You two are so lucky I sleep through the night," she joked.

"You're lucky you don't have Emmett and Rose as your parents. They wouldn't care about keeping things down for your sake." Bella responded.

"No need to remind me. They've babysat me enough times in my life for me to be permanently suffering with those memories for centuries to come."

"Come here Ness." She leaped onto the bed in between her mother and I with her head landing on my lap. Bella and Renesmee had such a strong motherly bond between them, but she was definitely a Daddy's girl. I loved her even more for it.

"Things have been so crazy this week we have hardly had any time to talk to you about your classes. How are you liking school?" I asked. I combed my fingers through her curls while Bella tickled her back. It was these moments that reminded us that she was still just our five year old little girl. As smart and mature as she was, she still needed the reassurance and stability of her parents like every other small child.

"It's good, I guess. I really love my classes. It's different and fun to be in a new environment. Some of it is restricted though. It's just weird that after living five years of being myself, I have to pretend being someone else."

"And your art classes?" Bella asked. "Are you sure you're comfortable staying in the class with Ms. Alvarez? We could get that class changed if you felt threatened in any way, baby."

"No, she's really nice actually. Thinks I'm really talented. She's never brought you guys up or anything though. Was really interested in our trip to Rio though."

"How so?" I asked.

"I don't know. Just asked a lot of questions if I had been to certain places, eaten certain foods. She mentioned something about the Ticuna tribes."

"What about the tribes?" Bella was starting to get worried.

"Just if I had heard any of the legends of the people. I told her I had never heard of them. She seemed to buy it. She's from South America though. It's not too weird she knows about stuff in Rio."

"Other than that, nothing else out of the ordinary?"

"Come on Dad, you would have heard me think it if there was."

"As much as I love your mother Ness, I am so glad I can hear your thoughts with no restrictions."

"Sorry to say the feelings not mutual."

"I know hun. Why don't you go get ready. It will be near ten by the time you get to Jake's if you plan on running there."

"Really? I can go?"

"Yes. Just promise to take your cell and call your mother and I so we can pick you up. Alice wants to take you to Port Angeles around three or four."

"Okay, I will."

Soon she was back into her room, climbing into the shower of her private bathroom Esme had installed last year.

"I'm going to get dressed." Bella said leaning over, grabbing the nape of my neck close to her face making me surrender to her touch.

"Five more minutes?" I begged.

"Nope. We need to get going, come on babe." I stood from the bed and she gave me a little slap on the behind. A growl blew into the air as she gave me a playful smirk, teasing me as she walked into the closet.

"You'll be the death of me woman."

"You're already dead!" she yelled back through the doors of the closet.

"I feel fine to me," I replied pinning her to the cream colored drawers kissing her feverishly.

"Edward, come on. I need to help our daughter get ready to be presentable for Billy."

"That girl has everyone wrapped up around her little finger. I don't think she has to do anything to impress the man."

"All the same. Later? Let's get our daughter off for the day, then we can reacquaint ourselves with the foliage outside. The sooner you let me go, the sooner I can take these clothes off later!"

"Fine." I reluctantly let her go, but not before leaving a chaste kiss on her lips. "Later it is then."

"You're relentless."

"Only for you, baby."

A few minutes later, I went into the kitchen to prepare breakfast for Nessie. She had always loved eggs, I figured because of Bella's craving for them during her pregnancy. Esme had our kitchen stocked while we were visiting Charlie last night. All of Renesmee and Jacob's favorites were in the fridge.

Once I had the omelets cooking slowly in the pan, I headed for the bathroom to check on my two favorite girls. Renesmee sat in a chair facing the mirror while Bella held a brush that she had been running through Renesmee's hair. Small pallets of makeup sat at the counter as my daughter took a small foam wand, wiping the purple chalk over her eyes. When did she get so grown up? Never in the hundred years I had already lived prior to meeting Bella would I have ever dreamed of having a life this fulfilling.

Marrying Bella completed me. The euphoric mood it put me in was nearly overwhelming. Our first honeymoon on Isle Esme was some of the happiest moments of my life. There was a dark time when I was convinced for Bella to go through with an abortion. I should have known that she'd be strong enough. My Bella is the strongest woman I know. Renesmee was a testimony to that; our little miracle baby.

"What are you staring at Dad? It's getting weird."

"Oh, nothing. I just love you both so much."

They both looked up at me from the reflection in the mirror and gave me identical crooked grins.

"You're looking more and more like your mother each day Renesmee. You're so grown up."

"I think I'm stuck with your hair for life though."

I chuckled. "Yeah, sorry about that. I suppose I have pretty dominant genes."

"Oh shush," replied Bella. "I fell in love with the hair before I fell in love with you."

"Very funny," I said as I walked over behind her, tickling her on her sides where she squirmed the most.

"Stop that!" she screamed.

"Tell me you loved me first!" I taunted back.

"Never!"

I tickled her again.

"AH! Edward let go, I'm going to burn our daughter with the curling iron!"

"Say that you love me!" I laughed again as I pinched her sides while she tried wriggling free from my grip.

"Fine! I loved you first! Happy?"

"Extremely." I smiled and left both girls with a kiss on the cheek, and headed back to the kitchen, spatula in hand, finishing Renesmee's breakfast. I'm totally the omelet king, even if they smell like vomit.

The day went by quickly, but was perfectly relaxing. We had just gotten a call from Renesmee saying her and Jake were ready to leave to Port Angeles, so we all decided to all meet at the main house and leave from there. I would help Jake run a few errands while the girls had their shopping trip. Bella and Renesmee were less than amused.

We arrived at Port Angeles by five in the evening. Ness and Jake were starving so I parallel parked on the street next to a small burger joint.

"This trip was a fantastic idea," Bella said coming to my side wrapping her left arm around my right. She leaned her head on my shoulders as we walked up to the front door of the restaurant.

"Today was perfect," I responded.

"Mom, Dad, hurry up I'm starving!"

"Coming!" I was so preoccupied with my family at the moment that I didn't even notice the familiar voices coming out of the room we were about to walk into.

"Bella, Edward? Is that you?" Bella held her breath and looked at me while I stared wide-eyed standing in front of a very curious, Jessica Stanley.


	13. Chapter 13

**Two chapters in two days! I'm on a roll! It's about to get intense here, so brace yourselves! Also, I have posted photos of Jacob's new car, and the Cullen's Enumclaw house on my profile. Thanks!**

**Chapter 13**

Damn those stupid wolves!If Jacob hadn't been with us, Alice would have been able to help us avoid what we were about to face.

"Good gracious girl!" Jessica's annoying voice was nothing compared to her envious thoughts catering towards Bella's new physique. "Did you get work done, you look fantastic!" She pulled Bella in for a hug. Bella held her breath and cautiously hugged her lightly back.

"Erm, actually no. I got sick on our honeymoon. Lost a lot of blood, and lost a little pigment in my skin. I guess it does make me look a little different…"

"And you're freezing! Let's all get inside. We absolutely have to all catch up! You're not going to believe this. Mike, Angela, and Ben are all inside! We decided to all get together before Ben heads to school again next week. Sorry we didn't call you. We didn't have your number and, well. Yeah…"

"Actually we just ate on the drive up. We were just stopping in to get some food for our friends." I interrupted.

"Well come inside anyways. The others would love to see you!" _There's no way she didn't have work done. Since when did Bella turn so high maintenance? It looks like she spent hours in the bathroom getting ready today. And there's no way she didn't have a boob job. Those things are way too perky to be real. That Edward is still a fine piece of ass. Wonder if their marriage is rocky yet. No baby yet? Huh, guess she wasn't knocked up at the wedding. _

"Maybe we should let you all catch up, we don't want to intrude…"Bella was fishing for any kind of escape. This was already dangerous enough as it is.

"Edward!" Alice came running up the sidewalk coming to our aide.

"Oh. Em. Gee. Alice Cullen! You haven't changed a bit! Okay I insist. The gang would love to see you all. Bring in your friends, wherever they are. We'll pull up a couple seats."

"Well my siblings are kind of waiting for us, really Jessica, maybe another time?"

"Alice, you're coming. And tell your brother to come in and sit!"

A moment later, Jessica had my wrist in her hand and was trailing me in like a child. I held on to Bella for assistance who was holding my right hand and followed me inside. It's a good thing Jessica grabbed my wrist over my coat or she'd be trying to think up reasons why my whole family had incredibly bad circulation.

"Guys, you'll never guess who I just ran into!" Jessica chimed as we rounded the corner to a table with our old high school buddies.

"Bella?" Angela asked.

"Hey Angela," Bella responded. "How have you been?"

Angela was always more quiet than anyone else, but incredibly more intelligent as well. Something told me it was going to take extra convincing to put her at ease.

Mike was gawking open mouthed at my wife, unable to pull together full sentences. It looked like he was unsuccessfully growing a beard where baby peach fuzz blossomed under his chin. A human would barely be able to make out the little blond hairs sprouting on his face. Unfortunately, I was forced to listen and look at his mind of inappropriate images of him and Bella. He didn't have much of an imagination since they hadn't changed much from high school. Still, it was not something I got used to or liked.

"Hey love? I'm going to go grab Ness and Jake." I left a kiss on Bella's cheek and pulled a chair out for her to sit in.

_Leaving me to the wolves Cullen? You better be back in less than a minute. _Okay, so she was freaking out a little bit. Her worried expression told more than her thoughts. She knew we were in trouble.

The burger joint had two rooms. Both fairly small, but all were booths. I listened for my daughter's thoughts and found them in a few seconds.

"Jake, Ness?" I said approaching their table. "We've got a problem. We've just run into the whole lot of your mother's high school friends. They want us to join for dinner. They want you to come too…and I think it's best we stick to the sister story Ness. Our faces are too identical. And well, Jake they already know you. Have you two ordered already?"

"No, just our drinks. We'll come with you though."

Renesmee and Jake straggled behind me to the large, round corner booth that now had a bunch of chairs and another square table pushed up against it.

"Everyone, I think you all remember Jacob." Jake awkwardly waved to the small crowd and then placed his hand around Renesmee's waist. "And this is my little sister. We were separated as toddlers in foster care and we recently found her a few years ago."

Jessica was throwing daggers at my daughter. Probably because Mike was now going back and forth between my daughter and my wife, trying to decide who he'd like to sleep with more.

"So you just magically found your sister like two years ago? Guess I can see the resemblance, she looks just like you Edward!" Angela was eyeing my immediate little family a little too much. She unfortunately noticed the resemblance with Bella as well.

"So, Jake, you're dating Eddie's little sister now eh?" Mike's thoughts were heading in a dangerous direction. "Do you just have a habit of getting under his skin by trying to take his girlfriend and sister?"

"Actually I have his blessing this time." Jake replied. "At least as far as I know, right Edward?"

I smirked back to him. "Just don't cross any lines Jake. I'll kick your ass if you hurt her."

_Daddy stop embarrassing me._

I patted Ness on the shoulder to reassure her.

"Good evening, is everyone ready to order?" A young waitress probably in her late teens greeted us. She was slender, dark hair pulled up and a petite face. She held a notepad and a pencil that had been chewed on the ends."

She started with Jessica and made her way around the booth to Jake and Ness who ordered enough food for four grown men between them, then made her way to me. Her eyes popped out of their sockets making eye contact and I noticed Bella strategically placing her head on my shoulder to claim me as her own. It was her way of saying 'back off.'

"And what would you like?" She asked me with a smile completely disregarding Bella.

"Actually, I'm good. We were just meeting with some friends."

_You know, I've never seen them eat. They always just stared at their lunch trays in the cafeteria. _Angela thought.

"Actually I changed my mind." Bella looked at me curiously with her eyebrows raised. "Could I get a large order of cheese fries? Bella, Alice, want to share them with me?" Both girls scared incredulously at me with fire behind their eyes. Renesmee even left out a small giggle.

"Okay, I'll be back in a few with your order."

"Hey Bella did you get contacts?" Angela asked.

"Huh?" Oh crap.

"Your eyes are different. They actually look like Edward's now. How weird."

_Help me. _Bella and I had never anticipated running into these people ever again. We weren't ready for this type of confrontation. I wasn't exactly prepared either. It was probably safest to stick with the first story we had already fed to Jessica.

"Bella got really sick on our honeymoon. We went to Brazil and she caught a local bug. It got pretty bad. She was at the CDC in Atlanta for a little bit and then a rehabilitation place for a few months after that. Her brown eyes turned a little more gold after she lost some melanin and her skin lost a lot of pigment. She's totally healthy now, but it was the scariest time of my life." I took Bella's hand and squeezed it.

"Oh how awful! Bella how come you didn't tell us! We would have sent a card, or flowers or something." Angela replied. She still wasn't totally convinced, but it would hold her over till now.

_Looks like it did her good. She looks like a freaking model! _Of course Mike would only be concerned about her looks.

"I'm sorry, what are all of your names?" Renesmee asked, trying to take some attention off of our family.

"I'm Mike, and I'm single." He stood up to shake her hand. Renesmee took it politely and smiled. Jessica didn't seem too thrilled. Neither did Jacob.

"I'm Angela, and this is Ben and Jessica. We knew your brother in high school. You know, you guys haven't changed one bit? I'm sorry hun, what did you say your name was again? Ness?"

"Renesmee. These guys usually just call me Ness or Nessie."

_Renee and Esme are Bella and Edward's mother's names. Coincidence? This is weird. Something's off. _

Angela was getting a little too smart for us. I pulled out my phone to find a message from Rose.

**Where did you guys all disappear too? I have been waiting at the shops on main for nearly half an hour! Alice just disappeared… –R**

I replied quickly.

**Ran into Mike, Ben, Angela, and Jessica at the Burger Joint on 1****st**** Ave. SAVE US PLEASE!- E**

My phone beeped back.

**Be there in 5. –R**

Our server was now bringing a large tray towards our table with our food. Great, couldn't wait for this…

"One mushroom burger for you, jalapeño burger for you, the special for you, veggie burger over here, the triple combo for you, and the double bacon cheese for you. And here is your large order of cheese fries. You sure you don't want anything else?"

"We're good, thanks." Bella replied for me.

"Damn girl, you got a good appetite!" Mike said eyeing my daughter and her double cheeseburger dripping from her mouth.

"Yeah, I'm not one of those girls who enjoys eating a few pieces of lettuce for a meal."

"Respect!" Mike said, holding up his fist for a pound.

_Is this guy for real? _Renesmee asked through her thoughts while reciprocating his fist bump. I just rolled my eyes. Hopefully that would be enough of a response for now.

"That's a lot of fries," Bella said. She almost looked sick looking at them. I couldn't agree more, they smelled foul. Maybe I should have ordered something with meat. Nah, even if I ordered the chicken, it would come so dry that they'd taste disgusting either way.

I took a large, exceptionally greasy fry with rubbery cheese from the tray, and put it into my mouth. Ugh, how did these people eat this crap? The oil made it slide down my throat with ease, but I could feel the weight of its nastiness sitting at the base of my stomach. I looked at the rest of the full tray with regret. Why did I get the large size?

I looked up to find everyone staring at me. My own family almost laughing at me eating human food, and the rest of them quite amazed that they had actually seen me eat anything at all.

"They're good. Have some." I said pushing the tray towards Bella and Alice. They took a fry into their fingers reluctantly, lifted it to their mouths, and pretended to chew as they swallowed it whole. I patted Bella on the back. She'd only been subjected to eating human food three times since her rebirth. All of them had been quite a traumatic aftermath.

Everyone dug into their own food and eventually lost interest of my and Bella picking at our fries. Alice had already said she had enough because she was "watching her figure." Cop out. What a pansy.

Rosalie appeared at the door and made eye contact with me. She headed our direction and pulled up a seat.

"Cheese fries Eddie? Really?" She asked with a smirk.

"Want a couple?" I was almost begging.

"I'm good. Hey guys, how are all of you doing? Long time no see!"

Rosalie never interacted with the humans at school. It was always Alice involving herself and Jasper into their teenage drama. Rose was never nice to any of them so it was no surprise everyone was baffled at her warm welcome.

"Rosalie! Wow you look great! How have you been?" Jessica bared through her smile. She hated not being the center of attention. The only reason she pulled us into dinner was so she would have something to gossip about when we left.

"Never better. Just trying to get these yahoos to hurry so we can catch up on our shopping."

"Where are all of you guys living now? Are you close? Edward, you and Bella went to Dartmouth right? Have you graduated?" Ben asked.

"We went for a few years, but we're taking a break. We'll probably register again in a year or so." Bella answered.

"What about you Rosalie? Are you and Emmett still together? What about Jasper?" Mike eagerly asked. The poor sap was desperate. Too bad he didn't notice Jessica flinging him several shots of cleavage throughout the evening.

"Jazz and Em are still around. They're just back at Charlie's house watching some ball game. They didn't care to come."

"Did you guys get married?" Jessica asked looking at their left hands.

None of the girls were wearing their rings. It was just easier because of the high school ruse we were trying to live.

"Yep! All the Cullen's are married off, well, with the exception of one." Rose said nodding off to my daughter.

"Not for a couple of years!" I almost yelled. Jacob gulped.

Everyone laughed.

"Awe I'm sorry you have him for an older brother honey. He must be overbearing." Mike said.

The "honey" didn't go over well with Jacob. He nearly growled.

"Actually I'm grateful to have him at all." She replied. "I couldn't ask for any better." She leaned over to me and gave me a small hug.

_Best daddy ever. _That right there made my night. I loved my little girl.

Jacob was kind enough to sneak away fries from my plate while everyone was distracted so that the tray was almost empty. Unfortunately, I still had a small pile of them weighing down in my stomach. I knew Bella was feeling it too. I'd probably never hear the end of it from Alice.

"What about all of you? What have you been up to?" Bella asked.

"Well I'm a nurse at Forks Hospital right now, and Ben is still trying to finish his masters at Washington State. It's hard being apart, but we both make trips to see each other on the weekends." Angela replied.

"I actually live in California right now working for a PR company. I'm just the receptionist now, but at least I have my foot in the door!" Jessica said.

"I'm taking over my parent's shop, so I'm living back in town," said Mike.

Before any more questions were asked of my family, I decided we better bail.

"Do we just pay the check up front?" I interrupted.

"Yeah you just take the ticket to the register up there," Mike pointed.

"Dinner's on me" I said pulling out my card. "I insist." Rather, dinner was just sitting inside me.

"Oh thank you Edward, what a gentleman! Bella you're so lucky." Jessica whined.

I stood up and walked over to the register where our waitress came to meet me at the counter.

"Ready to check out?" she asked.

"Yes, put the whole tab on this please." I answered handing her my card.

She swiped it through the machine and waited for my receipt to come out for me to sign.

"So you and that girl," she asked nodding her head at Bella. "Are you a thing, or are you single? Cause I have Wednesday off next week and was wondering…"

"Actually she's my wife." I replied holding up my ring finger. I fortunately rarely left the house without my ring unless we were going to school. Then I just switched it to the right hand.

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry, I'm so embarrassed. Umm, could you just sign here please?" she asked handing me the piece of paper trying to stray any attention from her.

"No problem, don't sweat it." I wrote in the tip and headed back to the table to collect my family.

"Well everyone, it was good to see you. We actually have some errands to run before heading back to Forks. Have a great night!"

"Wait! How long are you in town for? Bella we must do a girls night!" Jessica insisted.

"I'm not sure, I'll have to check with my family."

"Monday night if you can. Please?"

"I'll think about it."

"Yay! Well it was good to see you all. Renesmee, it was so nice to meet you!" The girl couldn't be more fake.

"You too. Have a good night."

Rose and Alice waved goodbye and we all stepped outside into the fresh air.

"Well that was interesting." Jake said.

"I'm going to be sick." Bella clutched her stomach and started running down the sidewalk towards a small clump of trees.

"Right behind you!" Alice yelled. We both ran after her and when we were safely enough inside the foliage, we started hacking up the oiled potatoes like a bunch of cats coughing up hairballs. When we were done, Alice gave me a menacing stare.

"What the crap Edward? Why the fries?"

"Angela was really thrown for a loop with Bella. She noticed we never ate. She's starting to be suspicious. I thought the fries would throw her off."

"Did it work?" Bella asked.

"I'm not sure, she's still being a little too nosey."

"Well I'm ready for shopping. Let's go!"

Alice grabbed Bella's hand, pulling her along the sidewalk the others.

The next few hours were fairly uneventful compared to earlier in the evening. Jacob and I collected a few books and artifacts for his class and when we met back up with the girls later on, they donned about eight shopping bags each. I raised an eyebrow at Bella who just said "Alice." It was good enough explanation as any.

We got back home, dropping our packages at the door and just walked into the living room to slump onto the couches. Bella laid her head on my lap and Renesmee lounged out on the overstuffed chair while Jake went straight to the kitchen.

"So that Mike guy is creepy," Renesmee said.

Bella and I both chuckled. "You should have seen him in high school when he kept hitting on your mother. I fully admit to eavesdropping when he asked her to a girl's choice dance."

"Really? What happened?"

"I made an excuse, didn't go to the dance at all. In fact, the day of the dance was the first date I had with your father."

"I'm surprised you didn't stand me up," I replied.

The next few minutes, we shared the story of our first date, our first kiss, and the first time I had taken Bella to our meadow.

"Awe Mom, you were all twitterpated for Dad. That's cute."

"I was already in love with your mother at the time. I would sneak into her room at night to watch her sleep."

"Eww, creepy Dad. You need to stop being such a stalker."

I laughed. "Yeah, kinda creepy. Your mother never kicked me to the curb for it though."

"That's cause Mom is the best."

"I fully agree." I bent over to kiss my wife.

"So, girls night on Monday. You going to go?" I asked.

"I'm not sure. Is it a bad idea?"

"I think Angela is getting a little too involved with us. Maybe it'll be good to throw her a red herring?"

"Okay, I'll go. Do you mind?"

"Just as long as you don't take more than a few hours. This is supposed to be _our _weekend remember?"

"Trust me, I'd much rather lock ourselves into our bedroom until Wednesday."

"Eww gross. Still here guys!" Renesmee called out.

"Sorry sweetie." I said apologetically.

"Renesmee it's almost midnight. You need to get to bed."

"No arguments there. Can Jake sleep on the couch? He doesn't want to wake Billy."

"Sure. Since he's staying, If you're okay with it, we'll go out for a run." I explained.

"Go ahead lovebirds, I'll watch over Nessie." Jacob appeared with a large sandwich in hand.

Bella looked up at me. "Want to go now?"

I nodded. We walked over to our daughter, each gave her a kiss on the head, and went back to the door.

"Remember to brush your teeth Renesmee!" Bella called as we were already out the door.

"Get to bed kids!" I yelled back.

Bella and I must have been thinking the same thing because we both ran straight for our meadow. I was once again faster than my wife since her newborn phase faded out. She still kept up with me better than any of my other family though. When I reached the meadow, I turned quickly to catch Bella in a kiss as she ran headfirst into me. The motion knocked me backward and we were rolling in a bed of late summer wildflowers along the forest floor. They weren't as beautiful as the lavender blossoms in the early spring, but the deep red and blue flowers saturated the ground delicately, reflecting an unusual color in the midnight light.

"I'm so sorry about the food earlier." I said in between kisses. I softly brought Bella's t-shirt over her head, aware we had not brought a spare set of clothes with us tonight.

"It's alright. Let's not talk about it." She brought up my long-sleeved tee over my head without breaking skin contact. She leaned over me as I unclasped her bra and she whipped me around underneath her unbuttoning my pants, bringing them to my ankles. I kicked them off not sure where they landed.

"I love you Mrs. Cullen." I whispered. I had never relished my immortality until I was told I got to keep Bella and Renesmee with me forever. Now I wouldn't be satisfied with anything less. We never got enough of each other.

"Even when you make me eat sluggy, nasty food Mr. Cullen, I love you too."

I brought her pants to her ankles and pushed them off with my toes. "Sluggy?"

"Sluggy." She replied again with a smirk and a kiss.

I put both of my hands through her hair, bringing her closer to me. I never felt more alive than when I made love to my beloved wife.

"What on earth did I do to deserve you?" She asked me through ragged breaths sitting on top of me. I pulled her in tighter.

"I'm the one that's blessed. It took me nearly a hundred years for you to find me baby." I turned her over on her back with my hands relishing every square inch of her body.

"Thanks for waiting."

"I'd do it all over again in a heartbeat." I replied. It's true. I would have waited a thousand years to find her. Although I'm glad I didn't have to wait that long.

Hours later when we could see the sky starting to lighten, we just lay on our backs, holding hands and staring into each other's eyes.

"So what are we going to do about Angela? What all was she thinking?" Bella asked me.

"Well, a bunch of things. I don't really think she believes your sickness story. She sees the resemblance between you and Renesmee, your eyes, the way we don't eat, your cold skin. Basically everything you put together when you met me without her knowing the tales of the 'cold ones.' She was very surprised when I ordered fries though. I think she intends to ambush you with questions when you get together on Monday."

"Well what am I supposed to tell her? I can't really say we're enrolled as high school students can I?"

"Ha, no probably not. Just tell her we're living near Dartmouth's campus. We do have a house there after all; even though you've never seen it. Maybe we should go there for vacation sometime…anyways, I guess both of us should probably have a job yeah?"

"That's what I was thinking. Something where she can't look up our names. A retail store maybe? I could work at a bookstore. That's convincing right?"

"Yeah that would work. I could just be a T.A. or something at the college."

"What about Carlisle? Or Alice, Jasper, Rose, and Emmett? What's their excuse for being in Forks this weekend?"

"Just a family reunion? I have no idea. I think the biggest problem is going to be explaining Ness and Jake to them. Last time they saw Jacob, he was still pining over you. That's got to be a little weird."

"What if Jake moved out east too and Ness was enrolled in school out there?"

"Not too convincing, but if the subject come up you could use that excuse."

"I want Renesmee to come with me to girl's night. We'll keep each other in check."

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"Yes, everyone loves her. She's good at conversation, and better at girl talk than me."

"Okay we'll talk to her about it tomorrow."

We arrived back at the cottage, opened the door to find Jake snoring on the rug in wolf form, and Ness asleep on the couch with a book open on her lap. There were burning embers in the fireplace from the logs they must have lit after we left.

"I'll get her," I said to Bella. "Go get dressed; I'll carry her into her bed."

"Okay."

I leaned over to pick up my daughter as she gently stirred. Her head nestled onto my arm as I carried her to her own bed. It's weird that just five short years ago, this room was decorated with all ruffles and teddy bears. It now resembled a typical teen's room with posters of bands and pictures aligning her mirror on her vanity. I set her down between the sheets and pulled the covers over her. I brushed the hair from her face and headed back to our room. Jake would be fine where he was. He actually snored less as a dog than a person so I wasn't complaining.

The next few days went by quickly. It was already Monday evening and Renesmee and Bella were preparing to meet at Angela's house. Jessica would be picking them up from there to go out to a movie. Jake and I were dropping them off, and I was, as my daughter so lightly put it, stalking them.

"Love you babe." Bella leaned in giving me a kiss.

"Love you babe." Renesmee said to Jake, kissing him on the cheek mimicking us. It should have made me angry, but I just laughed. They headed into the house and I pulled around the corner listening in.

I heard Angela welcoming them inside and offering to take their coats. They sat on the couch so I just listened for the dialogue through Renesmee's mind. I could hear her best.

"Would you two like something to drink? I was a little thirsty and about to grab something" Angela asked.

"I'm fine," Bella responded. "Thanks though."

"I'll have whatever you're having Angela, thanks." Ness replied.

"Sure, I'll be back in a few."

The next few seconds went so quickly, I was already in the house by the time Renesmee was screaming hysterically "Mom! Don't!"

But it was too late. Angela had outed us. The cup she had brought in to serve Renesmee had been filled with heated human blood. Bella held the empty glass in her hands with a spot of redness at the corner of her mouth. Angela just stood in the corner of the room holding an empty blood bag before whispering, "I knew it."

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><p><strong>AN: **Don't you just love Dadward? I love his little moments with Nessie...and Angela, wow. Didn't think she had it in her! Next chapter will be an interesting one. I'm not even sure how it's all going to play out. Keep an eye out the next few days for a new post cause it will be soon! Please leave reviews, and Happy Thanksgiving!


	14. Chapter 14

**Okay here's the next chapter! Things are about to get messy!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 14<strong>

"Angela," I warned to her as she still grasped the empty bag of blood. "I need you to go upstairs. _Now. _Don't make any phone calls. I'll be up there in a minute._" _

She nodded in agreement and slowly turned up the stairs leaving me, Bella, and Renesmee in the living room alone.

Bella still clutched the empty glass. Her eyes were swimming with thirst and shone a little brighter than when I had left her. The last time she had tasted human blood was when she was pregnant with Renesmee. The potency of if now as an immortal was nearly impossible to ignore.

"Bella?" I asked with my hands slowly extended. She was in full hunting mode now. No human was safe.

"Bella, sweetheart, it's okay. Give me the glass."

Her eyes averted from the glass to the stairs; trailing the scent Angela had left behind.

"Ness, go upstairs to watch Angela. I don't trust her not blabbing to anyone."

Renesmee darted up the stairs. Before reaching the top room she looked back at her mother wearily, then came running back downstairs to give her a hug.

"Mommy, it's okay. You're going to be okay. We can go home if you want. I'm sorry!"

Renesmee's apology snapped Bella out of her trance of thirst. She looked down at our daughter and reciprocated her hug, pulling her in tighter. She dropped the glass cup, and I barely caught it before it shattered into pieces on the ground.

Bella had been holding her breath. She leaned her head into Renesmee's hair and took in a gasp of hair.

"Oh honey, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to I'm sorry! It's not your fault." She sobbed.

"Hey, it's not either of your faults. I should have been listening to Angela's thoughts, but instead I was listening to Renesmee's. I'll fix this, I promise."

There was a knock at the open door and I looked back to see Jacob standing there.

"I saw what happened. Bella, do you want to come out here with me for a second?" he gestured for her to follow him.

"I had Seth round up buck out here for you by the trees out back. I know it will probably taste like crap compared to what you just had, but it will help."

"Thanks Jake." I replied.

Bella nodded and followed him outside. He took her hand and led her around out back.

Renesmee and I were left in the living room alone.

"Well, we should probably go check on Angela before she goes into shock."

"Sorry I didn't go up there earlier. I just didn't want to leave Mom…"

"It's fine sweetie. Let's go upstairs to see what's going on."

We ran upstairs and I knocked on the door where I could hear Angela's breathing behind it. I didn't wait for a response and just let myself in and Renesmee followed behind me.

Angela sat at the foot of the bed with blood bag still in hand, tracing the corners of it with her fingers. I didn't wait for her thoughts to answer my questions. I wanted answers now.

"What do you know Angela, and what do you want?" I yelled.

She wouldn't look up at me. She continued folding in the corners of the plastic bag.

"I'm not sure," she replied. "I mean, I don't know if I believe what I saw. Shouldn't you be the one giving me answers?"

"I don't owe you anything. Do you realize the danger you've put my family in?"

"Look Edward, ever since you and your family moved into Forks years ago, everyone knew something was up. I was the only one who paid attention to the details. What did you do to my best friend?"

"I didn't _do _anything to her."

"Did she know what you were when she was with you at the beginning?"

"Bella has known everything about me since she moved here."

"And what exactly does that entail Edward? What is everything? Cause I want to know too."

"I can't tell you that."

"But you can tell Bella? What makes her so special?"

"A hell of a lot more than what makes you special!" Renesmee yelled.

"And what exactly is your part in this Renesmee? Kind of a strange name considering Edward's and Bella's mother's names, don't you think?"

"Renesmee is my daughter." I retorted pulling Ness towards my side.

"That's impossible."

"Look, you're the one asking questions, and I'm answering them. If you don't want to know, and I advise you against it, then I suggest staying out of our business."

Angela stood up and approached us. Her brows her furrowed and lips quivering.

"I'm going to ask you again. What happened to Bella?"

I exhaled a great breath and tried thinking of something that wouldn't end in death for this poor human girl.

"I can't tell you everything Angela, but Renesmee is our daughter. Bella became pregnant with her on our honeymoon. As you can see, she has an unprecedented growth rate, and Bella carried her to term in just one month. The result of it caused great malnutrition for her and almost cost her life. It took us almost three days to get her _stable _again. Carlisle and I didn't leave her side the whole time as we weren't sure she would make it."

"But that's preposterous. Vampi…I mean… you can't have children. Can you?"

And there it was. The very thing that we had been trying to hide for centuries exposed in one word. I had to stray her from the truth as much as possible.

"Look, I don't know what kind of preconceived notions you have Angela, but you're wrong."

"Don't play dumb with me Edward. I interned on the reservation's clinic for a month. I heard enough stories from those adolescent boys through the curtains to think they were all crazy. But then one day the Cullen name came up. I'm not one for folklore and fairytales, but something about your family doesn't match up. Like how you're always out of town when it's a sunny day, or how I've never seen you eat a meal. Although that rumor was put to shame the other night…"

"Don't remind me."

"So Renesmee, how old are you really?" she asked.

"Five years old," she replied.

"And you Edward?"

I didn't respond.

"I can't believe this is happening." Angela said, collapsing back at the foot of the bed.

"Angela, you've always been Bella's closest friend from school. Please don't ruin this for her."

"I can't unsee what I've seen. I saw her fly across the room in under a second and consume a full glass of human blood; which I stole from the hospital by the way after my shift. What about Charlie! How much does he know?"

"He knows just enough. We've been in Forks the majority of the last five years. Charlie is very involved with our family and has looked past any differences with Bella because it was better for her to be safe than dead; which she almost was after her pregnancy. He loves Renesmee and would probably hurt or kill anyone who threatens her."

Footsteps headed up the stairs and Jacob soon materialized at the door.

"Bella's okay. She's sitting outside on the front steps with Seth."

"Thanks Jake."

I turned back to Angela. "I think it would be a good idea for you to talk to Bella. I'm sure she feels awful right now and it would mean the world to her if you'd console her."

"She won't hurt me will she?"

"I wouldn't let that happen, but she'll be fine, I promise."

"Okay."

Renesmee ran into Jacob's arms and let out a sob. He brought his hand to the back of her head and nestled her into his shoulder for a good cry.

"It's okay baby. Your mom is totally fine, I promise. I would never let anything happen to her."

Angela looked over at me, eyebrows raised.

"So Jacob is with your daughter? I have to say I'm kind of surprised you even let him near her."

"There are weirder things, trust me."

A phone beeped and Angela reached into her pocket to check her text.

"It's from Jessica. She said she's running late. Should I call her to cancel?"

"Not yet. Let's go see how Bella is doing."

All four of us headed down the stairs and turned the corner facing the front door. Bella was sitting on the porch with her hands wrapped around her knees. Seth was sitting next to her patting her on the back.

"Bella, are you alright?" I asked.

Both of them turned towards me as I headed to sit next to my wife.

"Thanks Seth. I missed ya man." I gave him a pat on the shoulder.

"Yeah, it's good to have you back. I'm sorr…"

But he was cut off immediately. His gaze ran across Angela and his world moved in seconds. The intensity of his mind was something indescribable. Every pre-existing thought was left in the dark and all he could see was her. She stood wide-eyed in the center of his gaze without words.

Jake and I exchanged looks and the rest of my family put together the pieces in a matter of seconds.

Relief flooded through me. If there was one thing that could have saved this human girl from death or immortality, it was acceptance into the pack. Seth had just given her a "Get out of Jail Free" card.

"What's going on?" Angela asked without removing her eyes from Seth.

I cleared my throat. "Umm, Angela, this is Seth. Seth, Angela."

Seth stood up and walked slowly towards his newfound existence.

"Hi." He said holding out his hand.

"Hi." She answered, taking his hand.

"Umm, maybe we could reschedule for another night?" Renesmee answered. The whole group sat there collectively staring at both of them for a few minutes before Jake broke the silence.

"Maybe you guys should call Jessica. I think tonight will be more of an information overload." Jake replied. He walked up to Seth and pulled him into a hug.

"Congrats man. How about we go get some grub?"

He continued to stare at Angela.

"What's going on here?" Angela asked again.

Bella stood and walked towards her friend. "Maybe we should go inside. Are your parent's coming home anytime soon?"

"No they're out of town."

"Okay. I'll call Jessica. Maybe we could meet her for a ten o'clock showing. That would give us a few hours for chit chat and get acquainted."

Poor Ben, I thought. He was such a nice guy. A little quiet, maybe a little eccentric, but really nice. I don't see how he's going to stand a chance against Seth.

The crowd headed back into the house and made themselves at home on the couches.

"Okay I'm really confused. Will someone please tell me what the hell is going on here?" Angela was really started to get irritated, but it didn't go unnoticed that she hadn't yet removed her hand from Seth's, and he sat extremely close to her without removing his eyes from hers.

Renesmee went and took a seat next to Angela.

"Seth has imprinted on you." Ness said to Angela.

"He what on me?"

"Dad, maybe you should start from the beginning."

I took a step closer into the room and moved towards Bella, taking her hand into mine. I had to look into her eyes to see if they were okay. They burned a little more amber gold; a side effect of the human blood. She wouldn't lower her shield, but she gave my hand a small squeeze and a slight smile.

"It's a long story, but I'll just give the specifics." I said.

"When my family moved to Forks several decades ago, the Quileute tribes were not happy. It was against their nature to make any type of amicable ties with us."

"You mean with vampires?" Angela asked. Everyone stiffened at the word.

"Yes. But we convinced them we were not like the others. We survived off of animal blood, not human blood. We created a treaty with the chief, who was Jacob's great grandfather saying we would never bite a human, nor go on their land. When there are vampires near the tribe, their genes mutate and those with the genes change into shape shifters. The Quileute tribe takes on the appearance of wolves."

"Like werewolves?"

"Sure, if that makes it easier we'll call them werewolves. Their natural instinct was to hunt our kind. We moved away after a short while our first time in Forks. When we returned, the boys started to change into wolves again. Jacob and Seth are two of them. There are two packs in the Forks area, Jacob being one of the alphas."

Angela's heart rate quickened and she finally removed her hand from Seth's. the absence of contact nearly made him whimper, but he held I together fairly well.

"Vampire's sometimes encounter something called "la tua cantante." When I met Bella, she was this for me. Her blood was more appealing than anything I had ever smelled. It took nearly all the strength I had not to mutilate and kill her our first day in biology. But she was strong. She figured out what we were and didn't run. We quickly fell in love and I became aware how dangerous we were for her. So I convinced my family to move away from here so Bella could move on and live a healthy life."

"You left to keep her safe?"

"Yes. There was an accident and Jasper nearly attacked her. Anyways, Bella came to find me when I almost went through with something incredibly stupid. She saved me. Our family came back to Forks because I realized that I couldn't live without her. Bella made the decision to become one of us, even though I didn't want her to be. We made a compromise that as soon as we became married, I would change her myself. Well obviously there aren't many vampire to human relationships in this world because we weren't aware Bella would be able to conceive a child. After only two weeks on our honeymoon, we realized that Bella was pregnant and in grave danger. The whole family tried to convince her to abort the baby, but she would have none of it. We ended up having to do an emergency caesarian less than a month later and I was able to turn Bella at the last moment."

"Oh Bella, I had no idea."

"It's okay, really. I couldn't have wished it to turn out any better than it did."

"Anyways, the wolves have many legends, one in particular that has proven to be true time and time again with their pack. They have the ability to imprint on their mate. The first time they lay eyes on that specific person, they become bound to them. It is completely involuntary and they don't have any control over it. After they've become a wolf, if they look at you and don't imprint immediately, then they never will. But once they do, it's for life. There are different types of imprinting. Some that become the spouses of that particular person, or sometimes they imprint on someone much younger; like a baby. Renesmee was only minutes old when Jacob imprinted on her. Another wolf, Quil imprinted on a three year old girl. Don't feel in any way that you are obligated for anything, but there isn't anything in this world Seth wouldn't do for you."

"But what about Ben?" she whispered.

"Who the hell is Ben?" Seth grumbled.

"Well, he's kinda my boyfriend. Since junior year of high school actually."

"Angela?" I asked. "How are things really with Ben. Do you see yourself marrying him eventually?" Seth clenched his hands tighter.

"I'm not sure. He has another couple years of school left, and he's in Seattle while I'm in Forks. We only see each other a few days out of the month. But I do love him. It's just been stressful."

"I understand. I'm sure Seth would like a few minutes with you if that's alright. He knows just as much as I do and I trust him completely. We'll just be outside if you need anything."

"Okay. Edward? One thing before you go?"

"What's that?" I asked.

"How come all of a sudden you've been so forthcoming about all of this? I mean, twenty minutes ago you were fighting tooth and nail to keep all of this a secret."

"Seth can fill you in on the details. Basically, you're part of the supernatural now. It's your responsibility just as much as ours to keep the secret. Call us back in when you're done."

"Thanks Edward," Seth called out.

"Anytime."

Jake, Ness, and Bella followed me outside into the backyard.

"Well that worked out better than we could have hoped." Bella sighed.

"No kidding. I thought I was going to have to scour the planet for someone gifted enough to erase memories."

"What's going to happen to Ben, Daddy?" Renesmee asked. I looked up at Jacob who was thinking the same thing I was; Sam and Leah. Emily couldn't have refused him and she even tried, but Leah still got her heart broken.

"I'm not sure sweetie. Why don't you talk to Jacob about it."

"Want to take a walk Nessie?" Jake asked with his arm outstretched, reaching for her hand.

"Okay." She looked back at her mother and me before reaching out for his hand and heading into the forest.

Bella let out another sigh.

"I came so close to ruining everything for us." She sat on the grass cross-legged and started absentmindedly pulling out blades from the ground, creating a small pile to her left.

"Shhh, don't even think about it, love. Everything worked out and that's all that matters." I laid down next to her but she kept averting my gaze.

"I've never been that exposed before. I had no control, at all. I was already holding my breath a little bit when I went in there because her own blood was already tempting. I didn't even smell her preparing it. She put it in the microwave and everything!"

"Bella, baby it's okay. You were exposed to human blood and you still didn't attack her afterwards. Do you have any idea how proud I am of you?"

She kept her eyes focused on the grass.

"I wanted more Edward. That deer I consumed afterwards was vile and disgusting. How do you live with it after tasting human blood?"

"We'll get through this one day at a time, alright? Do you feel tempted right now with her in the house?"

"No, I feel disgusted that I even toyed with the possibility."

"And that's why you're the strongest woman I know. Angela is your friend. Every person on this planet has a family or friend that will miss them when they're gone."

"How was she when you were talking to her alone?"

"A little defensive. She kept asking me what I had done to you." I whisked my fingers delicately over her face, removing a strand of hair from her eyes.

"You have given me everything." She whispered. "I can't imagine life any other way."

"I love you my Bella. You are my life, and I couldn't live a day without you."

"And to think I almost moved to Jacksonville with my mom instead of Forks."

"I would have found you anyways."

Bella finally looked up and gazed into my eyes. She was hurting, I knew her that much. She felt responsible for everyone's pain. Her own compassion almost gave Esme a run for her money.

"It looks like they're already a sappy pile of goo, maybe we should come back later." Renesmee joked with Jacob.

Bella took a handful of sod and chucked it at our daughter. She moved in the nick of time before the dirt clod hit her square in the chest.

"Whoa Mom, can you imagine the look on Alice's face if she saw that you ruined this blouse she got me just two days ago?"

Bella smirked and sat up. "Come here baby."

Renesmee let go of Jake's hand and ran over to her mother. She sat down next to her and hugged her like a small five year-old might hug their parent. Eyes clenched shut and with all her strength.

"Mom I was worried. Are you going to be okay?"

"Yes baby, I'm going to be fine. Just a moment of weakness, that's all."

"I'm glad you have a friend in on the secret now though. Angela seems really nice."

"She was my closest girlfriend at school besides your Aunt Alice. I'm glad she can be part of my life."

It started nearing nine o'clock which meant Jessica would be arriving any minute. The four of us just sat outside, shooting the breeze and joking with each other; my immediate little family. It's strange how I spent over ninety years of my existence with each day blurred together. Only five short years ago, my world was turned on its head. I now had a beautiful wife, a loving daughter, and even a potential son-in-law. Oh, who am I kidding. Jake and Ness would be married in a few short years and there's nothing I can do about it. I think back towards how much animosity I held towards Jake when he was after Bella. I can now think of no one more deserving of my daughter.

We heard footsteps approaching and looked up to see Angela and Seth coming through the door. They weren't touching, but they weren't avoiding each other either. Seth looked nervous, and Angela looked weary.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Baby steps." Seth explained.

"Sorry, this is just a lot more than I expected to get tonight. I really just need some time to think."

Bella walked towards her long lost friend and brought her into an embrace. We sure were a hugging family.

"Call and let me know if you need anything Ang. Anytime at all."

"Thanks Bella. I'm really sorry for earlier. I was just scared for you, and I…"

"I know, it's okay. Really I couldn't be happier than I am right now."

"Really?"

"I promise."

Jake cleared his throat. "Don't you have Jessica showing up any minute to take you ladies to a movie?"

"Crap, yeah, I guess we should go grab our coats."

"I'll get them!" Seth yelled running into the house a little over eager.

"That'll take some getting used to." Angela laughed.

"You boys should all probably leave before Jessica thinks she's some seventh wheel." Bella nudged me.

"Hey! Are you ashamed of me?" I joked.

"Not at all. But I might kick Jessica's butt if she undresses you with her eyes one more time."

I chuckled. "Alright boys, let's leave the ladies alone for their movie night."

"Can I see you after Angela?" Seth asked. He had it bad. Jake yanked on his arm before he could answer.

"Come on bro, let's go get some food."

"I'll drive." I volunteered.

I blew a kiss to my girls and headed towards my car. Seth closed his passenger side door as I heard Jessica approaching Angela's house in her little, white Honda civic. She had Katy Perry blasting and was singing at the top of her lungs. Thank goodness I'd be out of earshot in just a few seconds. Seth started at the back window like a lost puppy watching his owners leave him behind.

"It'll be okay Seth. We'll see them in just a few hours."

* * *

><p>Sheesh! That was a close one huh? I wonder how Ben is going to take the news...I wonder what Angela is going to do about Ben! I actually wasn't even planning on Seth imprinting, but well, he just kinda showed up and I don't have control over these types of things! Leave a review! Thanks for reading :)<p> 


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N I know I know...I'm a huge slacker. I can make a bunch of excuses like I got this amazing new job and I moved...but you don't want to hear about that. This chapter finishes their trip in Forks. I'll post another one by the end of the week...to any of my old readers that are still around, thanks for coming back! Review review!**

**Chapter 15**

Tonight was our last night in Forks before heading back to Enumclaw for classes tomorrow. I had done so well keeping the unwelcome thoughts of school at bay, but at least my classes tomorrow didn't consist of my unbearable math class and Ms. Alvarez; whatever her angle was. Esme had invited everyone we knew to our house for dinner tonight. We never held formal dinners when we had people over, just a large, buffet style table filled with everyone's favorites. Charlie and Sue would be coming, along with both wolf packs, and all the imprintees. We thought it would be a good opportunity for Angela to meet and get acquainted with everyone.

Angela seemed to be doing well considering all the newly found knowledge she now held. I could see in her mind that she was having an internal battle as to what she wanted to do about Ben. Apparently she and him were having problems with the distance, and not as close as they used to be. She couldn't ignore her attraction to Seth, much like most imprinted humans.

After their movie night last night, I picked up Renesmee and took her home to sleep while Bella stayed at Angela's for a few more hours to fill her in on any missing details. She was now educated on everything that Bella knew; from the chase through Phoenix with James, to the confrontation with the Volturi after Nessie was born. Seth wasn't happy about the girl's night last night. He was hoping he would get to stay over. I personally wouldn't be too surprised if he pulled a leaf from my book and returned to her windowsill to watch her sleep. I can't get over how creepy I was, but more so surprised that Bella didn't run from me after that.

"What are you thinking about baby?" Bella approached me wiping her hands at the side of her pants from the sticky residue from the apples she had been cutting.

"Just thinking about how I used to sneak into your room to watch you sleep."

"Pervert."

"Yet you still love me for it." I smiled, pulling her in for a kiss. Her arms reached up behind my head reciprocating my need to always be touching her.

Seth and Angela both walked through the door staring at us.

"Since when is Bella all about public displays of affection?" Angela asked.

"This is nothing. Try living with them." Jacob retorted walking past us.

"It's a vampire thing, I guess." Bella responded barely long enough to take her lips from mine, and then returned them to where we left off.

"Love? Later at the cottage alright?"

"We're leaving after dinner, Edward."

"Damn. Meet me there in twenty minutes then okay?"

"Babe, we'll miss the festivities if we leave. You know we won't be able to come back."

"I promise we will. Just give me a few more moments at home before we have to go back to that dumb school."

"Just exactly how many times have you graduated high school, Edward?" Angela asked.

"Way too many to count, or care. If you want to count, our graduation caps are hanging in the other room."

"Seriously?"

"Yep."

"Come on Seth, let's go." She took Seth's hand pulling him through towards the other room.

"Alone at last." I murmured.

"I still promised Esme I'd finish cutting the fruit. Twenty minutes remember?"

"See you there, love."

I left my wife to her kitchen duties she'd been roped into. Charlie and Sue hadn't arrived yet, but most of the packs were here. They were all gathered in the family room on and around the couches, Emmett included, watching a football game. Renesmee was sitting on Jacob's lap as he traced random shapes on her back with his fingers. Who would have thought I'd ever welcome him into my family with open arms. I'm not sure what I would have ever done without him. I owed him my life. He looked over at me, stiffening and bringing his hand down. I just shook my head and smiled. The boy needed to loosen up with me a bit. Truth be told, I needed to loosen up with him too.

I decided to head over to the cottage a few minutes early since everyone else was otherwise engaged. Walking into our home, I closed the door behind me and dimmed the lights which changed the lighting to a luminescent purpleish glow.

I removed all the picture frames and any glass fixtures from our room and set them on the couch in the living room. This consisted of three large canvases from our wedding, and a family photo taken last Christmas. I didn't intend on being careful or quiet this time around. I unbuttoned my grey shirt and pants and laid them on an upholstered chair in our elaborate closet. When I heard the front door open and shut, it only took an instant for me to whisk Bella into my arms and carry her to our bed.

"Five star service I see." She joked.

"Honey, if we've ever been to a hotel where anyone gives you this type of service except for myself, they better be prepared for me to rip their heads off."

"I'm only yours Cullen. Now how about you help me out of these clothes."

I carefully pulled her sweater over her head and had her lay on her back to remove her pants. I never promised to be careful with her underwear. I looked down at my beautiful wife in all her glory waiting for me to pleasure her in every way possible. It took all my strength not to throw her up against the wall and take her there.

Nothing could hurt us. We had been overly cautious and quiet with Renesmee in the house, so alone moments like these were cherished more than any fortune. Only seven years ago was I still a hundred and nine year-old brooding teenager. Now I had a family. A wife I loved beyond reason, more than my own existence, and a miracle child that I was blessed with to care for an eternity. How can you ask for more than that?

I lowered myself onto the bed with Bella and took her into my arms.

"I love you baby, so much." I whispered in between tender kisses trailing down her neck.

She hitched a breath.

"I love you too, Edward. Do we have to go back tonight?"

"Shhh...we only have about a half hour before everyone finishes dinner. No talking." And then the night's silence was filled with the sounds of our love intensifying through the walls.

When we arrived back at the main house, Bella had re-brushed her hair, and our clothes were without a single wrinkle. I greeted Charlie with a hug and smile and gave Sue a quick kiss on the cheek.

"You two are going to have to come visit us up in Enumclaw." I mentioned. "There's lots of good fishing up there Charlie. We should make a day of it!"

"I'd like that. I'll arrange to get some time off work to come see you guys."

"Dad, how about you guys come up the week of Thanksgiving? You can fish the weekend before, and then we can all head back to Forks for the holiday weekend."

"Sounds great Bells. I'll see if I can arrange some time off at work. I have a few vacation days saved up."

"Can't wait." Bella gave her father a quick hug and then followed into the next room to find our daughter. I trailed in after her.

Several of the guys were sitting on the floor with Emmett and Jasper playing the Xbox, and all the girls were sitting at Esme's favorite table, looking over photo albums.

"And here's a picture of teenage Edward right around the time puberty hit." Esme laughed holding up a stack of faded, sepia pictures she had scavenged after my parent's had died. Bella ran to Esme's side to poke and laugh at my pubescent, pimpled face.

"Really Bella?"

"It's one of my favorites! I could never pass up looking at this gem."

I walked over strategically cornering Esme and Bella into the corner of the room, hoping I would have just enough time to jump over and around them, taking the pictures with me. My wife was too fast for me. She caught my left leg in mid sprint and the pictures I had taken went flying all over the room. The boys looked up from their paused game with surprise, but Emmett was already ahead of me. He had snatched up a handful of photos and held them in front of his face.

"These are the pictures you'd never let me see Eddie?" he jeered.

"Oh man, look how gangly you were! And you're totally wearing a little Newsies hat and everything!" he passed around the pictures to the other guys and they all took a few seconds laughing at it before passing it on.

"Mom!" I complained. "Stop them!"

"Oh hush Edward, I think they're cute."

My wife and daughter held in a fit of giggles as I stood myself up and brushed out wrinkles from my fall.

"Seriously man, give them here." I sternly held my hand out to the guys who knew I was serious. As soon as I had collected all twelve photos, I walked back to the table and put them back in the little wooden box they were kept in.

"Really babe, you were a darling boy," Bella tried reassuring me by wrapping her arms around me and looking up with her electrifying gaze.

"Ha yeah. I'm just grateful I got to pass my awkward phase in less than a year." Renesmee laughed at me.

It was true. She took over puberty in less than eight months, and it still wasn't even that terrible. Dumb pictures. I really should have burned them, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Those twelve photos were some of the few memories I had from my human life.

I ignored the other chortles through the room and swooped my head lower to retrieve a kiss from my loving wife. I remember showing her my photos the first time. It was about three months after the Volturi had left, and Bella was making inventory of everything in my old room. We were sorting through things to bring to the cottage, and things to leave in the main house.

"_What are these?" She asked sincerely opening the box._

_"Oh," why was I embarrassed? "Just a few photos of my human life. I can't believe I haven't shown them to you before."_

_She didn't need to say anything after that. Although her immortal eyes could gather every detail from a photo in less than a second, she cherished each picture by staring at each one for several minutes. Her eyes sparkled and her lips turned up into a smirk when she flipped to a picture of me as a baby, sitting on my mother's lap. _

_"Edward these are incredible. Definitely coming to the cottage."_

_"Actually I kind of like them here. Keeping my old family and my new family together ya know? Plus Esme paws through them every so often. Keep them in the book case and you can always look at them here whenever you'd like."_

_"Okay." She gave me a quick peck on the cheek and set the wooden box back in the book case._

"Remember how I said we should keep those photos here?" I asked my darling wife. "Well, I think I've changed my mind. I don't trust them in the same house as Emmett."

Her arms still clung around my back as she looked up into my face. "Okay, we can take them back to the cottage tonight if you'd like."

"Yes please." I finished the conversation with another quick kiss.

The evening was getting pretty late and we still had quite a drive back to Enumclaw. I still wasn't comfortable enough to call the place my home. I felt like it was more of a destination for a lengthened leave of absence. The time was nearly nine, and we had planned to leave by ten.

"Ness, you better start saying your goodbyes now. We need to head out in about an hour."

She gave me a little pout while sending me the message _we could always take a sabbatical Dad. I think I like it here more than Enumclaw. I'd rather be a Spartan than a Hornet anyways._

I let out a laugh. "Nice try missy. We can come back and visit again soon. Start gathering your stuff. If there's anything from the cottage you want to bring back, you better think of it now."

"You guys have a cottage?" Angela asked. I should have known she'd be eavesdropping in on every conversation.

"Yes! Oh Ang you should see it! It's seriously right out of a fairy tale book!" Of all the gifts my wife had been given, the cottage was by far her favorite. One day…I would find a car amazing enough to impress and surprise my wife. It was a promise I made to myself.

"Can I? Do you have enough time to show me?"

Bella looked earnestly at me with a pleading gaze. Sheesh, she knew I wouldn't say no.

"Okay okay. Why do I feel like I'm everyone's father setting the rules?"

"You kinda are Daddy!" Ness bumped hips with me as she passed with another plate of food.

"Can I just say how weird it is for a girl that nearly looks older than you to be calling you Daddy? No offense, but it sort of freaks me out."

"I'm a hundred and sixteen Angela. That's really the weirdest part. If you want to go to the cottage, it is a quite a ways on foot, and you can't reach it by car. Bella will have to carry you if you want to be back in time."

"Bella are you strong enough to carry me?" Angela's exasperated tone was even more startled by the fact of my wife's strength, than the moment she drank a full glass of human blood in front of her.

"Pshh. Of course. Light as a feather. You better close your eyes though, it will make it easier. Hop on my back and we'll take a quick trip over."

Angela reluctantly sat her soda cup on the table and followed Bella outside where she climbed on her back. In a rush they were gone, so I decided to make good with Charlie. I joined him on the couch while waiting for them to come back.

"How's everyone handling the move, Son?" I loved that he accepted me enough to call me that.

"Alright I suppose. We all miss Forks terribly."

"You know I don't oppose you moving back, Edward. Ness could home school."

"You know that she's probably smarter than most of the teachers at the school right? We just want her to have a glimpse at a normal life. I want her to experience high school dances, finals week, and all the stuff in between. She's incredibly smothered by our family at times, so it's nice for her to make some new friends."

"I'm standing right here you know." She yelled with a mouth half full of potato chips. I turned my head to see both Jake and Ness standing in the kitchen, each with their own bag in hand. The image was honestly a hilarity.

"To be honest Edward, I'm not sure how Carlisle makes enough money to keep those two's appetites sated. I think that's Nessie's third bag of chips."

"Justh mah thecond!" she squeeled with chip flakes falling out of her mouth. Her and Jake locked eyes and began a giggle fest where they eventually had to spit out the remnants of food in their mouth into their hands. I'm glad my birth mother wasn't alive to see my daughter behave like that. She'd probably have an aneurism.

Charlie and I kept small talk for about ten minutes more when I heard Bella and Angela return.

"Finally!" Seth exhaled and ran to his new infatuation. She didn't look very amused. She was an incredibly faithful person, and was still technically with Ben. I wasn't sure how that was going to pan out, but like I thought before, things didn't really look good for him.

I approached my wife and gave her a hug and a kiss on her head. "So…Angela what did you think?"

"It was beautiful! Esme I heard you designed and rebuilt it. Whenever I buy a house, you're hired!"

"Thanks dear. It was definitely one of my favorite projects."

"Everyone, we have about a half hour before we have to make our trip back. Jake, you and Nessie are probably going to end up sleeping half the way so we need to get going quickly."

"If we're driving separately, why the rush to get back?" He was still munching away at the lingering remnants of food left on the table. He had picked it to table scraps.

"Because Jake, I don't very much like the idea of carrying you into the house. You stink."

"Fine, fine. Well boys, I guess this is it. Come say hi to us out west." And with that, the rest of the tribes were all giving Jake a slap on the back and saying their goodbyes. Bella ran into her father's arms for a hug which led to a tender father/daughter discussion, and the rest of my family was lugging down suitcases to take out to the cars.

When you add the two wolf packs, Sue and Charlie, the imprintees and my family all saying their farewells, it took nearly two hours to get out of the door. As much as I hated being away from my wife, we decided that she'd drive with Jake in the new Audi, and I'd drive Ness home. Bella hardly had any alone time with Jake recently anyways.

I barely made it to the interstate before Ness was snoring and I was left alone in silence. It had been a long time since I drove alone. Driving through Port Angeles in silence reminded me of the time I had followed Bella there that first month I knew her; again, yes I was a creep. But I can't even begin to imagine what would have happened if I hadn't have been there.

Bored, I pulled out my phone to send Bella a quick text. Thank goodness for my spidey senses. I had no problem double tasking while driving. If I ever caught Renesmee texting and driving, I'd probably rip her future license in half and never let her drive again.

**Jake still awake? –E**

It took about a minute for her to respond.

**Nearly. He keeps mumbling incoherent sentences, but still trying to participate in discussion. Renesmee?- B**

**Out like a light. I'm bored L- E**

**Poor baby. I'll call you in a minute. Miss you- B**

**Miss you more. I'll wait for your call. – E**

Two minutes later, my phone buzzed in the center console and I swiped my thumb across the touchscreen to answer.

"Hi baby. I feel like you're way too far away from me right now. Did Jake finally fall asleep?"

"Yeah. He stopped ranting about two minutes ago so I figured he was out for the count."

"I'm glad. Even if it means I have to carry him into the house."

"Pansy. I'll do it if it's such a big deal."

"Nah, I'll step up to be the man dear. It's my duty." I heard her soft chuckle through the line and could just imagine her delectable lips a few couple hundred feet behind me. Maybe we should stop somewhere to fill up the gas tanks? I still had half a tank left, but the gas was cheaper here surely.

"Honey, how's your gas tank?"

"Edward we filled up before we left. Don't tell meyou have a leak."

"Well, no… But I was thinking, the price of gas is almost ten cents cheaper here than it is in Enumclaw. Maybe we should take advantage?" She knew well that it wouldn't hurt my pocketbook the extra three dollars I'd save in gas, but she didn't object to it. Score! Well, I was gonna…in about five minutes.

"Excellent. There's a rest stop with a station in about five miles. Sound good?"

"Mr. Cullen, you sure do know how to show a girl a good time." I gave a hearty laugh to her response. Her voice was all sultry and playful. I loved playful Bella.

"Only the best for the love of my life, dear. So I was thinking…"

"What were you thinking?"

"While we are stopping, well there's no sense in wasting the surrounding forest. Especially when I need to loosen you up for gym tomorrow."

"Unnnnnghhhh. Honey, why did you have to bring that up? It kind of kills the mood."

I smiled because I knew my response would have an opposite effect. "Well you see love, I get to see you in your uber sexy little yellow shorts. And you get to see me in mine. Also, I seem to recall a little secret opening underneath the bleachers on either sides of the locker rooms. I know how fast you can get dressed and visa versa. What do you think? Up to the challenge"

Silence. I could hear her quickening breaths on the line. I knew I already had her, hook, line, and sinker.

"How do you do that?" she asked. She was all hot and bothered. It didn't take much these days.

"Do what?" Oh it was so fun to play innocent. She knew I was anything but.

"With just a few words, make me anxious for gym tomorrow."

"Who wants to wait for tomorrow? The exit is a half a mile away love. Deep breaths. See you in a minute." I needed to take my own advice. I was gripping the steering wheel so tight that the rubber beneath my fingers was straining into a perfect molding of my hand. I pulled up to the gas pump, locked the door, pocketed my keys, and eyed the midnight blue sedan pulling in behind me.

I had never felt more alive than the last few years with my wife. She pocketed her keys, then walked excruciatingly slow in my direction; willing me to spontaneously combust. I knew there were a dozen security cameras in the lot, so I had to walk at a boring, human pace. When I finally had her in my arms, her lips on mine, my hands tangled in her hair, out breaths interwoven with each other; I felt whole again.

"Come on. We have five minutes."

We were already mostly undressed by the time we reached coverage of the trees and darkness. Our clothes were wadded into a pile on the ground and I reached for my amazing wife.

"We can't" _kiss "_Be gone" _kiss "_long." Bella murmured in between kisses.

"Shhhh. No more talking."

Realistically, it was closer to a half hour when we emerged from the forest holding hands. When we got back to the cars, they were empty. Renesmee and Jacob were nowhere in sight.

"Where did they go? Where's my baby?" Bella dropped my hand and frantically circled both vehicles.

"Bella, baby…listen. They're inside." Through the thin glass doors to the convenient store, you could hear the laughter coming from the other side.

Bella all but ran into the store at a slightly faster than human pace. When we got inside, Ness and Jacob were sitting at an old picnic table, awkwardly situated in front of the food items in the store. They each had a bag of jerky in their hands and looked at us as menacingly as we approached.

"Well well well…you two really are seriously crazed sex addicts. You really couldn't wait another hour for us to get home?" Jake mocked. The smiles on their faces hinted the crap I was about to endure for our last hour home. I looked over to my wife who grinned back at me while taking my hand.

"Totally worth it," we both chimed at once. And it was.


End file.
